Adopting and Adapting
by Namwen20
Summary: A female Raito Yagami's family adopts Beyond Birthday a few years after her sister Sayu dies as an infant. But what happens when the orphan's previous 'owner' wants him back? In the end, who'll Beyond be with? The family he's come to love, or his 'owner?
1. Prologue

**In the Yagami family, Raito has no siblings. Sayu died many years ago from illness. Her parents feel that Raito distances herself more and more from the world everyday. And to help her, they adopted her a brother. Beyond, the same age as Raito and very stubborn, just like her. This is a story about what it would be like for these two to grow up together.**

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 1**

**Prologue:**

The Yagami family of three was sitting around the small table in the kitchen. The mother and father of the family, Sachiko and Soichiro, were about to tell their 10-year-old daughter, Raito, the news that they had for her.

"Raito, honey," Sachiko started cautiously, "both your father and I have seen how distanced you are, and your teachers have said that as well these past years. So, we decided... that we are going to adopt a child."

Raito was surprised, to say the least, "Adopt?" she questioned, hoping she'd misheard.

Soichiro nodded, "Yes, we're going to adopt." inwardly hoping his headstrong and stubborn daughter wouldn't overreact to the news.

Raito wanted more information, "Is it a boy or a girl?" she tilted her head.

Sachiko smiled, "It's a boy." Raito felt that adopting a boy was completely understandable, if not, more appropriate. She could tell that it would be hard for her parents to watch another girl and wonder if Sayu would've carried similar traits. As a matter of fact, she was happier that it was a boy that they were adopting. "How old is he?" she asked.

"He's ten-years-old, Raito, but he's older by only a few weeks." Sachiko replied.

"Oh," she trailed off, still not sure if this was good or bad for her. She figured she'd just have to wait until she could actually meet him before she could have an opinion. "What's his name?"

"Beyond." her father answered, then pulled out a small photo and handed it to Raito, "Here's a picture of him." The photo was a shot of a pale-faced boy with a pointed nose and messy, black hair. But that's not what caught Raito's attention, the boy in the picture had blood-red eyes.

"Mom, Dad... his eyes... " she trailed off, speechless. Never in her entire life had she seen or heard of such a thing as red eyes.

"We know, but he's so very smart, Raito. Sooner or later, you won't even notice his eye color, you might even grow to like it." her mother assured.

A short silence, broken by her father, "He's from an orphanage called Wammy's House, which is in Winchester, England. I'll be going there next week to pick him up, by the time you come home from school that day, he should already be here."

But the boy's red eyes were still a little shocking for Raito, and frightening...


	2. Excitement

**End of the prologue, now for the main event! Here is Chapter 1!** ******I must give credit to The-Living-Shadow for coming up with the plotline! Very helpful to me! Just HAD to say thanks!**

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Adopting and Adapting

**Chapter 1**

_'"So, we decided... that we are going to adopt a child."'_

Those words found their way into Raito's mind, and kept repeating over and over, keeping her awake at night. They kept her staring at her ceiling, thinking, wondering, hoping, even praying. For what? Raito didn't know, exactly. Her thoughts would always be centered around Beyond, and even though she didn't know the kid, she'd think about all kinds of thinks relating to him. How tall he is compared to her, what he's into, what kind of things would strike as interesting to him, and if the two of them would get along. All night, for the next week, Raito's thoughts were flooded around her soon-to-be brother.

It was nighttime, and Raito's father had left early the previous morning to fly out to Winchester to pick up Beyond from the Wammy's House. So whenever Raito would come home from school the next day, Beyond would most likely be there. She clenched her soft, blue bed sheets in her hands, knowing that they wouldn't be only her's for 2 weeks starting tomorrow, only because, chances are, Beyond's room furniture wouldn't be picked out for that long. Raito also knew that this night would be her last night as an only-child. In just 24 hours, Beyond would be sleeping next to her.

_'We are going to adopt a child.'_

_'Adopt a child.'_

_'Adopt a child.'_

**Winchester, England – Three Weeks Ago:**

A middle-aged married couple were on their second honeymoon. The woman of the marriage, Sachiko, had always wanted to go to England, so her husband, Soichiro, decided to take her there for their second honeymoon. And their Raito was with her grandmother. Definitely not something traditional, but neither were ever onto such customs.

Unfortunately, Mr. Yagami still couldn't get off duty. His one co-worker, Matsuda, screwed up his last case, so the Force decided that the Chief of Police _himself_ should take care of Matsuda's next assignment for him. It just so happens that there was a case about a possible mistreatment to a boy in an orphanage.

Nobody knew that the same boy in the case would come back to Mr. Yagami less than a month later...

**Kanto, Japan:**

The next morning Raito woke up at 7:00am from the sound of her alarm clock ringing. Raito sleepily turned it off and forced herself out of bed. She didn't remember falling asleep, but it didn't matter, she could tell by the way she felt that she didn't get much.

Raito looked at herself in the mirror, she looked closely at her eyes. It wasn't fear of Beyond in her eyes, of that she was certain, it wasn't jealousy, it was excitement? That wasn't something she expected out of herself.

The young girl got dressed in her black and red school uniform. Her uniform was a more traditional Japanese sailor style, with a black, short-sleeved blouse, a short, black and red plaid scarf around the neck, and a black and red plaid skirt that came down just above her knees. She also wore black, knee-high socks, black Mary-Jane's, and a bright red cap on her head.

She walked downstairs to the freshly cleaned kitchen to see her mother sitting at the table drinking her morning coffee and reading a magazine. Sachiko looked up at her daughter smiling, "It's the big day, are you excited to have your new brother home?"

"So excited, I can't wait until Beyond gets here." she smiled brightly. And that was the truth when Raito thought about it. She _wanted_ Beyond to get to her house as soon as possible. "I can't wait to see him." That was also true, but the reason for is because she'd gotten over his eyes, in the pictures of him anyways.

Raito finished her quick breakfast and headed towards the door to leave, but stopped herself. She turned and looked around at her house, knowing that in a few short hours, she wouldn't be the only child to walk the hallways or occupy the rooms. Another living, breathing _person_ was coming into their household, and it _was_ a positive thing. The soon-to-be little sister turned and walked out the door and along her short route to school, thinking how it could be her last day walking alone.

_'When we go to school together, we can sit together in class, at lunch, and play together at recess. Oh, I'm such a gitty, little girl sometime, honestly. But I think I have a good reason to feel this way!' _Raito thought throughout her school day.

**At the Yagami Residence – Present Day:**

Soichiro pulled into the driveway from the airport with his new son in the back seat. He immediately felt connected to the boy when he first saw him in Winchester, and just _had_ to adopt the child, just to get him out of that dreadful environment. The child's expression was just sickly and pitiful-looking, much how little Sayu looked before she died as an infant.

Sachiko, now a mother of two, walked out of her home to greet her husband and new son. The two stepped out of the car. Soichiro walked over to his wife to greet her, and Beyond, in oversized jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt, stared at the house with his red eyes in awe. _This_ was the house that he would eventually call home. He looked and saw Sachiko and Soichiro. _These _adults were the people that were going to raise him and shape him into the person that the world will know as Beyond Birthday... or Beyond Yagami. He still wasn't positive on the stance of his last name. Beyond Birthday, Beyond Yagami. Just as long as he could be _Beyond, _and not_ Backup_, he was happy.

_'Do these people have high expectations for me like Mr. Wammy and Lawliet?'_

Sachiko approached her new son. To Beyond, Mrs. Yagami just looked like a very kind and approachable woman. Mrs. Yagami smiled sweetly and said, "Welcome home, dear." She said it so well and easily, that it seemed she must have said it a thousand times. She hugged Beyond, which he tried to return full-heartedly, but the hug ended up awkward for him, since he hadn't been hugged much back at Wammy's, if at all. He'd never thought of Wammy's House as 'home', not even once. To him, it was just a place he was staying at until he could succeed Lawliet. But now, Beyond hada _home_, and a family, and he felt nervous. He hadn't expected to be adopted, so he found and stole Roger's copy of his birth certificate. He would destroy it, first chance he got.

_'That'll show them for trying to use me for their own gain, and also for trying to make me like Lawliet. I hope I never have to see those people or deal with them ever again.'_

When they broke the 'hug', they both saw Mr. Yagami pulling Beyond's suitcase out of the trunk. Mrs. Yagami gestured Beyond into the house, and he followed silently. Before they closed the front door behind them, Mr. Yagami walked in with them. Beyond looked around at the cleaned house. It looked very cozy inside and he felt that he could easily get used to living in this house, unlike Wammy's. Beyond hated how everything in the dorms there were white. There was no individuality in that, nothing unique. But on the other hand, the more Mr. and Mrs. Yagami showed him around the first floor of his new home, the more he loved it. A warm, relaxed feeling that you got when you entered, mocha colored walls in the living and dining room, and light yellow in the kitchen. The feeling Beyond got when he stepped throughout the house made him want to be there all the time. _This_ was how a home should be.

"And upstairs is just basicly all bedrooms and bathrooms." Sachiko informed Beyond as the three of them started up the stairs to the second floor. The upstairs consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Yagami's bedroom, their master bathroom, Raito's bedroom, a guest room (which will soon become Beyond's room), and a small bathroom which connects Raito's and Beyond's bedrooms. Mrs. Yagami showed the raven her and her husband's bedroom and bathroom, which he noticed was very clean and orderly, then his future bedroom, which was white-walled and... _empty_. Everything about this house was absolutely _perfect_, but this room just rained on his parade. "Don't worry, dear," Mrs. Yagami assured, "we'll take you shopping for furniture, paint, and anything else you want for your room."

_'What...? _My_ room?' _Beyond thought.

"In about two weeks time, this will be _your_ room. And we'll help you make your room _however_ you want it." Soichiro added.

"Really?" Beyond asked, looking up at them with his big, red eyes.

They both nodded. "However you want." Beyond nodded and thanked them. Then they all moved to see Raito's room. "But in the meantime, you'll be staying here." She opened the door, and Beyond saw another clean and orderly bedroom. It wasn't ridiculous like a little girl's room, the room had color, but it was mature-looking at the same time. This girl had good taste, just one troubling thought...

"She'll be in here too, right?" Beyond was worried, he didn't want to be rude and steal his new sister's room. He just got here, for Pete's sake!

"Yes, Raito will be sharing her room with you until yours is ready." Soichiro said as he set Beyond's suitcase on the bed. Then, as they all walked down the stairs, Mr. Yagami checked his watch. 2:40. "Ah, speaking of Raito, she'll be home from school soon."

**Meanwhile with Raito:**

Raito waved goodbye to her schoolyard chum, Misa, and excitedly made her way along her usual route home.

_'Beyond should be home! I wonder how much Japanese he can speak, considering how __the orphanage he lived at was in a country that speaks English. Oh, we'll worry about that later, I have a brother! I can feel happy butterflies fluttering in my __stomach! I'm a sister, and I have a brother!' _

The young brunette actually outwardly giggled as she ran home. Various thoughts entered her mind as she sprinted:

_'I can't believe the waiting is over!'_

_'No more having no one to talk to!'_

_'If this is all a dream, I hope I never wake up!'_

When Raito finally reached her house, which seemed to take forever, she stopped at the door to catch her breath. Soon, the young schoolgirl opened the door and threw her schoolbag down off her shoulder.

"I'm home!" she called out, trying not to sound like a crazy person in case Beyond could hear her. She quickly found her family sitting in the living room. And there was Beyond.

Raito froze at the entryway of the family room, she and the sitting raven made eye-contact for a few seconds. Raito broke they small silence by laughing a little and smiling at Beyond, "Hi there!"

Beyond looked at the caramel-eyed girl and waved, "Hello."

Raito walked forward and outstretched her hand for him to shake, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Raito." she said, trying her best to sound friendly and approachable. As the raven sat up straighter in the chair, he looked at the girl's hand in confusion.

_'I know I'm _supposed_ to shake it, but I don't know if I particularly _want_ to.'_

"I'm Beyond, it's a pleasure to meet you." He shook it anyway. When their skin made contact, he felt a strange connection to his new sister. He felt that same connection to his 'parents' too.

Strange for him. Nothing else, just... _strange._

**I must say thank you to EVERYONE who has helped me and supported me! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I think I have an idea for the next chapter. Yay! No writer's block!**


	3. It's Nice to Meet You!

**So I FINALLY updated! Yay! I was starting to hate myself for not updating in so long! I apologize if anyone is angry or upset. I hope this chapter makes up for it!**

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 2**

The brunette smiled cheekily to the orphan and asked him in a friendly tone of voice, "Do you have any bags that you brought?" Beyond nodded.

"I left it up in your room for him, I figured we could get it soon." her father stated from the couch.

Raito nodded to her father, "Okay." then looked at Beyond, "Do you want to go unpack that now, or do you want to wait?"

Beyond stood up from his chair, and Raito noticed he was about the same height as she was. "Now would be fine." he said, and Raito started towards the stairs and Beyond followed her closely.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in their mother's head, "Oh! Raito, honey, before I forget: Did you get back your results from the IQ test?"

Raito remembered as she and Beyond were halfway up the stairs, him behind her. "Oh, you're right. I did." She turned to walk back downstairs, and agilely moved past Beyond with an "Excuse me." The brunette quickly pulled a paper out of her schoolbag and handed it to her mother. As she read over the paper, Raito sneaked past her, then went to quickly go up the stairs, all in one motion. Beyond was curious about what Raito's IQ was and so he stayed in place, but she didn't want him knowing she was the smartest person her age in all of Japan.

_'I can't let Beyond know that my IQ score should have me in a high school! He'll think I'm some crazy, mad-genius freak!'_

But Mrs. Yagami was so excited, that as Raito managed to push Beyond to the top of stairs, she exclaimed, "Number 1 again! And your IQ is scored as higher than last year! It was 158 last year, but went up to 159 this year! Soichiro, look! According to the chart, this means Raito's highly gifted! I'm so proud of you!"

_'159? Isn't that Lawliet's same IQ score? ...That's... incredible...' _Beyond thought, blown away.

But Raito had guided (more like pushed) Beyond to the door of her room, which was closed. She opened her door, gently but firmly pushed Beyond in her room, replied to her mother, "Yeah, I'm proud of me too, Mom! Bye!" and quickly closed the door. All in a few short seconds.

The tousled brunette leaned against her closed door and sighed. Her brother stood a few feet from her, and just looked at her. She started to chuckle, "I swear to you, Beyond, that rarely happens in this house."

"What exactly?" he tilted his head as Raito made to start unpacking his suitcase.

"Chaos." she and Beyond both smiled. Raito opened the suitcase and saw that they weren't folded, and most of the clothes Beyond had were the same things. He had thrown the clothes in his suitcase himself and stuffed them all in there. His suitcase carried only black shirts, jeans that were all at least two sizes too big, socks, and underwear. They agreed to Raito folding his shirts and jeans, while he handled his own socks and underwear. "How long have you lived at that orphanage?" Raito asked.

"Ever since I was small."

"Do you remember where you lived before you went to Wammy's House?" she looked at him as the pile of Beyond's shirts got higher.

"No, I'm afraid I don't." he answered simply, not looking at Raito.

"... " The brunette looked back at the clothes she was folding.

"So, your IQ is quite high, as your mother obviously saw." Beyond said, breaking the silence.

"_Our _mother. And _yes_, my IQ score is higher than that of most people our age." she admitted. "But please don't think I'm a genius-freak because of it." Raito looked at her brother with pleading eyes.

He looked back at her, eyebrows raised to show he was serious, but at the same time, friendly. "No no no. It's actually quite impressive if you ask me."

"Really?" She asked, even though she could tell he was being completely honest. "I thought that you would think I'm _weird_." she shrugged, smiling.

"... You don't know what kind of orphanage Wammy's House is, do you?"

She shook her head. "To be honest, I didn't think there were different types."

Beyond seized folding his socks. There was no movement in the room, they were both staring at each other. His red eyes firm, her chestnut eyes curious. "The orphanage I lived at was strictly for _gifted _orphans."

"Wow... I didn't know that." she broke their eye-contact, thinking. Her eyes flicked from thing to thing like they always did when she was thinking. "Wait, that means... "

"Yes. You don't have to be embarrassed by your intelligence, Raito, since I'm probably on a similar mental level as you." Beyond pauses and speaks softly, "159... That means you're just as smart as _he_ is, but you're at least four years younger... Interesting." he smirked to no one in particular.

She leaned in slightly and tilted her head in confusion, "I'm sorry Beyond, I didn't quiet catch that." Her eyebrows furrowed as her confusion deepened, "And when you say 'he', who are you referring to?" No reply. She touched his shoulder, "Beyond?"

The young raven broke from his trance-like state. He slowly turned his head toward his baby sister, blinked, then said, "I'm sorry. I must've been thinking outloud." He looked back down at his socks. "I'm sorry if I scared you." as he resumed folding his clothes into piles.

Raito just smiled and started folding Beyond's jeans, "It's alright. I think I can understand why you would think outloud." the raven looked at her with questioning eyes, "It's just for the company, isn't it?"

Beyond smirked, "Yes... interesting." continuing the folding and piling.

"What's interesting?"

"I've been at Wammy's House for as long as I can remember, and I've only known you for about 15 minutes. Yet, I can honestly say that this is the longest I've ever talked to somebody." That was absolutely true. Mr. Wammy and Roger had kept Beyond in a room, isolated from the outside world the entire time he was at Wammy's House. Away from the sun, away from civilization, away from people, except for Mr. Wammy and Lawliet. Gods, he _hated_ those two with all of his heart and soul. How _dare_ they try to take away his individuality!

Beyond's conscience came out of nowhere, much like it always does, _'No no, there's no sense in getting upset about it, there's nothing to worry about anymore. It's over. Besides, you don't want to make a scene and scare Raito.'_ The raven looked at the brunette. Beyond knew he didn't want to _ever_ scare her, or even see her scared for that matter.

Raito thought about what Beyond had said, then laughed through her nose. "So... you're antisocial?"

"Apparently," Beyond shrugged. _'but not when it comes to you, Raito.'_ he mentally added, embarrassed by his own thoughts.

Soon after the conversation, the two siblings finished folding. Raito showed Beyond the drawers she's emptied for him beforehand, so he would have a place to put his clothes. They both put away his clothes in the drawers, then Raito went to put Beyond's suitcase in her closet so it wasn't just lying around. Clean-freak.

"Well, that's done. Hey Beyond," she caught his attention. "you want to go downstairs and see what Mom's up to? She's usually preparing dinner by now, did you ever try any Japanese dishes before?"

"No. But if I did, I don't remember. I'm actually quite curious as to what new things this country has to offer." Beyond replied as they both walked out of her room and down the hallway side-by-side.

Raito suddenly remembered something and seized walking, "Oh crap!" Beyond looked at her, inwardly worrying. "I just realized I haven't changed out of my school clothes yet!" Beyond chuckled at her silly forgetfulness, and she ended up laughing with him as she walked back towards her room to change. She called back to him before shutting her bedroom door, "You go ahead downstairs, I'll be there in a minute."

She closed the door.

The voice inside of Beyond's head started talking again, _'... Wait a minute. Why do I want to wait for her and not leave her alone? Am I a stalker? Or a... pervert? No no, I'm absolutely positive it's just that she's the same age as me, and very nice to me. Geez, I've never been treated with kindness outside of today, have I?' _Then, an excellent idea came to the raven's mind. _'I'm alone! The birth certificate!' _He felt in his pocket._ 'I could destroy it, but how? Think Birthday think! You're not friggin' stupid, so Think!... I got it! I could tear it to pieces and flush it down the toilet in my parents' room! I'll need to be quick though, if I want to beat Raito.'_

But just as Beyond thought that and was about make his way to the master bathroom, Raito's bedroom door opened. He froze and looked at her. She was dressed in jeans and a lime green polo shirt. The shirt, Beyond noticed, had about six buttons coming down from the collar, and also that the shirt fit her well around her stomach.

She spotted Beyond, which surprised her since she thought he'd gone downstairs. He looked at her, "I didn't want to go by myself." he answered before she could ask. She simply shrugged it off, thinking he was just a little nervous.

The pair of geniuses spent the rest of the day relaxing, but both felt it was more appropriate since Beyond would be busy getting his school stuff and his room ready. But the time they spent together was never awkward for them, Raito enjoyed spending time with Beyond, and Beyond enjoyed spending time with Raito. They opened up out of their shells because of each other.

Raito didn't feel lonely anymore.

And Beyond didn't feel hatred anymore.

After dinner, both Beyond and Raito felt a little exhausted from the excitement of the day, so they said 'Good night' to their parents and went to bed. Beyond and Raito sleepily made there way into her bedroom, then both got under the sheets and found their comfortable positions. Beyond and Raito lay in the bed facing each other, Raito was smiling with pure and utter happiness. Beyond smiled back, yawned, and closed his eyes.

The two young geniuses fell asleep together. No, they weren't two young geniuses, trying to live up to the wildly high expectations people had for them anymore. They were just Beyond and Raito. Just a couple of kids. Brother and sister.

They were family.


	4. Super Fun Time

**I'm really excited about this chapter, and I hope you all like it! A special thanks to The-Living-Shadow for inspiring me and helping me see this chapter's possibilities in a whole new way! You're great!**

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 3**

**The Yagami Residence – 9:07 PM**

Mr. and Mrs. Yagami were doing the dishes in their small kitchen. Doing this became somewhat of a ritual for the two, just something they did to clean up before they went to bed. They stood side-by-side at the sink, her washing and him drying. All in all, it was a good day, and both parents were filled with joy and contentment. They both stood in a comfortable silence in their small kitchen.

"They both seemed good today." said Sachiko, referring to Beyond and Raito, who were both fast asleep in their bed. The mother had been replaying the short but precious moments that happened earlier. Beyond and Raito didn't seem to have any problems with each other.

"They did." he agreed with her, nodding. He then thought of something he wanted to ask his wife. "You know, Sachiko, Raito's school is farther away from here than Bandmaster Academy." said Soichiro. And he spoke the truth, Bandmaster Academy was closer to their home. Raito's school, Sedgemill Academy, was about 10 minutes farther away from their house if you walked.

Sachiko smiled to keep the atmosphere of the conversation comfortable, "Now Soichiro, do you think either Beyond _or _Raito would be very happy if we sent them to different schools? We both know Raito wouldn't allow it, since she'd talked about showing off Beyond to her friends at school. Besides, and it would be cruel to separate those two."

"Your right." he admitted, smiling. And they continued in their happy and comfortable silence. All was right in their world, and they couldn't ask for anything more.

**Winchester, England – Wammy's House:**

However, things at the Wammy's House were not nearly as peaceful. In Roger's office stood Watari, Roger, and L. The young teen was very furious with his caretakers.

"How could let this happen!" L screamed at the elderly men before him.

"L, you don't have to yell, there's no need for that." Watari tried to scold L, but L ignored him and just kept yelling.

"No need! How is there no need to yell, Watari! You just let Backup get up and leave! He's supposed to succeed the name of L when I'm gone!" L continued bashing, pacing back and forth in a rage.

"L," Watari started, "I want you to understand, the man that can in here was the Chief of the Japanese Police. He said he would investigate further into this whole situation. We don't need that kind of thing going on right now, L."

"It doesn't matter, Watari, what you should have done was call me and let me handle the situation myself! What I say to the police is practically law to them!" L screamed back.

"I need you to calm down L. There are many brilliant minds here, we can easily have one of the Wammy children take his place." Roger tried to calm L down, but to no avail.

Watari nodded, "Roger's right L," then walked up to L. "there are _plenty_ of worthy children. I'm sure more than a handful of them would greatly impress you." Watari tried to put his hand on L's shoulder, but L pushed him away.

"You're saying that we _replace_ Backup!" L shouted. Then his voice suddenly went cold as his anger took over, "No... I _will_ get my Backup again, even if it's the last thing I ever do." L left the room, leaving both Watari and Roger very worried.

L walked down the hallway of the orphanage, trying the cool off from his rage. He kept walking and walking. He was almost on the other side of the entire building when he suddenly stopped. L had an idea.

His precious Backup _would_ be his once again.

_L would win._

**The Japanese Task Force Station – 2:30 AM:**

_**Name: **Kimiko Sakamoto_

**Age: **7

**Description: **Japanese, black hair, brown eyes, 52 lbs, 3ft 11in

**Found: **In an alleyway dumpster downtown on 5th Avenue

**Reported: **By a passerby, dead when found by said person

**Cause of Death: **Murder

Mogi, a tall and muscular but quiet policeman, entered the Task Force Building quickly. He looked and saw other officers, of all ages and both genders, standing around, wondering and talking about why they were called in at this time of night. One of the officers, Aizawa, spotted his quiet co-worker and approached him.

"What's going on?" Mogi asked.

"Apparently _L_ wants us all to be here for some reason, we're basically here against our will." Aizawa rolled his eyes. Everyone else knew that he hated the detective with a passion.

"Maybe it's about that little girl who was murdered, we haven't had any leads on that case for a while. The Chief could've contacted L." said Mogi.

"Maybe..." Aizawa muttered. _'It's L, it's probably something stupid._' he thought.

**The Yagami Residence:**

The house was silent and peaceful. Every member of the family safely tucked away in their beds. All dreaming sweet dreams and breathing softly. All were sound asleep.

_Riiiiing!_

Soichiro picked up the telephone on his nightstand, and answered it with a sleepy and groggy, "Hello?"

An unfamiliar voice could be heard on the other end of the call, "Is this Yagami-san, Chief of the Japanese Police Task Force?"

"This is he... May I ask who's calling?" he slurred, still half asleep.

"This is L." Soichiro instantly woke up completely. "And I need for you to go to the Task Force Station right away."

"Is this about the little girl who was murdered?" Mr. Yagami asked worriedly.

"All of your questions will be answered, you just have to go to the station first, Yagami-san. Goodbye." L said coldly, then hung up.

Soichiro then hung up the phone and got out of bed. His wife woke up and asked in a hushed voice, "Honey, what are you doing?" as she rubbed her eye.

"Just going down to the station."

"Why? Did something happen?" she asked, sitting up.

"They just want me to look at some files, that's all." he lied. He knew he was in the wrong for lying to his wife, but he didn't want to worry her. She knew that anything involving L was very serious business.

He was now more appropriately dressed and ready to head to the police station. He bid farewell to his wife and closed the bedroom door behind him. As the father and husband of the family walked through the upstairs hallway, he stopped at Raito's bedroom door. He slowly opened it and looked in, there were two children bundled under the blankets, Beyond closest to the door, both fast asleep.

Soichiro walked toward the bed and looked at his sleeping children. Beyond and Raito's faces were deprived of all emotion, the two were facing each other and were snuggling together. His chin was resting on the top of her head, and his left arm wrapped around her back, holding her close to himself. Raito was using his outstretched right arm as a pillow, her face buried in his pale, 10-year-old neck, her right arm holding him close as well. The way they held each other made Soichiro remember how Raito would always hold one of her stuffed animals when she was smaller. The sight before him was truly precious.

Remembering how he had to get to work, Soichiro turned and closed the bedroom door behind him. He walked downstairs and grabbed his car keys, then headed out the front door.

**The Next Morning – Saturday - 9:00 AM:**

Sachiko Yagami stood in her kitchen and poured some coffee into her mug as she yawned. Her son and daughter her both still upstairs, both fast asleep. She took a sip of her coffee when the sound of the lock on the front door turning could be heard. She looked and saw her husband, and he didn't look too happy.

"Are you okay, dear? Did something happen at the station?" she asked worriedly, though in a quiet voice. She didn't want her husband to make a fuss, then wake up the kids, and then have them see him like that.

Soichiro sighed, as if to try and calm himself down. Then he admitted to his wife, "When the phone rang last night," he looked at her straight in the eye. "that was L. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth in the first place, but I didn't want you to worry."

She nodded, then led Mr. Yagami into the kitchen to sit down at the small table there. "It's okay, I completely understand. Some of the things you know are only for you to know, and I'm okay with that. But why do you seem to be in a bad mood?"

Soichiro sighed again and ran his hand back through his hair, "I'm just a little annoyed because L called every single police officer and told them to go to the station. But when I got there, he told everyone that he didn't want us to contact him. He said he's in Japan on a personal case." Sachiko nodded as her husband continued. "Normally, we wouldn't mind that, but it's just that we're currently working on a murder case and we aren't having any luck locating the killer. Once we told him that, we said that he had more important things to worry about right now. Then he got an attitude with us, basically complaining how we couldn't solve one measly case, when he himself solved a handful earlier." The husband sighed again, but this time out of anger, "It's just what he said and how he said it that really annoys me. And it makes it all worse since we not only have Raito, but now we also have Beyond with us. I can't believe he just brushed off a murder case like that. L's so childish and he seems to think of everything as just a game."

His wife patted his back, "It'll be okay. If you really think so lowly of L, you shouldn't waste your breath on him. From what I'm hearing, he doesn't seem to be worth it right mow." she smiled at him, "Besides, we have a really good thing starting here, now that we have Beyond."

Soichiro sighed, "You're right..." then he looked at his wife and smiled at her, "like always." he added. She smiled, then stood up to pour him some coffee.

**Meanwhile Upstairs:**

The charcoal-haired boy, Beyond, was starting to stir from his sleep, but his body decided that he wasn't quite ready to wake up just yet. He felt something rubbing against the front of his body, something warm. He liked the way it felt against him, so he snuggled closer to it and held it tighter and closer himself. He soon drifted back to sleep.

When Beyond woke up again, he decided to open his eyes and try waking up completely. But before he did that, he wondered if what he had been snuggling with was still there, so he moved his hands against it. Yep, still there. He opened his eyes and saw that it the warm thing he'd been cuddling with in his sleep the whole time was Raito. She was still fast asleep, and she didn't come off as the kind of person who would get upset if someone basically hugged her like a teddy bear in their sleep. Plus, she was holding him the same way, so the boy highly doubted she would have a problem with it. So Beyond just lay there for a few minutes more, his eyes wondering from thing to thing. He recollected how Raito's eyes did the same thing yesterday when she thought about the orphanage.

Beyond shifted to lay on his back to face the ceiling, the girl sticking to him like glue. She still had her arm wrapped around his ribcage, still fast asleep. He held her right hand in his left and rubbed it gently with his thumb. He had limited mobility in his right arm since she was resting her head on it.

Raito then started groaning in a raspy voice, Beyond looked at her as she snuggled and held him tighter for a moment before her eyes started to flutter open. She took a second to see what she'd been holding in her arm, but didn't move, just mumbled, "Good morning." She yawned against Beyond's shoulder, his hand still covering her hand on his stomach.

"Morning." he replied.

She looked up into his eyes and smiled, "Sorry if this bugged you or woke you up during the night."

Beyond stared up at the ceiling in silent thought for a moment, "...I don't believe I understand why you're apologizing." He looked down at her, meeting her eyes.

She shrugged, "It's just that when I was a little younger, I would hold a plushie toy while I slept. I thought I'd slipped out of that habit a long time ago, and I didn't exactly think that this would happen."

"Oh, it's not a problem. At the orphanage, I never had a roommate, so it felt nice just knowing someone was there." he admitted.

The brunette just nodded. She just lay there with her eyes open, content. "Beyond?"

"Hmm?"

She shifted slightly, and tilted her head to look at him curiously. "When's you're birthday?"

Before answering, the raven let out a yawn, causing Raito to inwardly smile at his humanity. He didn't seem _completely_ human to her when she first saw him in the family room yesterday, but every moment they spent together changed that initial thought. "The 11th of February." he looked at her, "When's your birthday?"

"February 28th."

"...Then you're a Pisces. The common Pisces is said to be imaginative, sensitive, devoted, compassionate, sympathetic, and tend to have artistic qualities."

Raito's eyes flicked around in thought before she spoke, "Well, when it comes to _me_ as an individual; pretty imaginative, not so sensitive, devoted to some things, sorta compassionate, very sympathetic, and I'm no artist... You're astrological sign would be... Aquarius?" he nodded. "I remember reading somewhere that Aquarius was ruled by the planets Saturn and Uranus."

"...You sure know a lot, don't you?" he stated quietly. She didn't reply, just smiled cheekily. The two then heard a growling noise and felt a small vibration on their touching hands. Beyond's stomach was growling, again, showing that he _was indeed_ human, and letting them both know that he was hungry. When he first heard it, Beyond made a surprised face, Raito saw it and laughed, he then looked at her and laughed too.

_'I don't know why, but I just can't help but smile when I see her smile, or laugh when she laughs. It's like whatever she does is contagious to me. Interesting.'_ he thought.

Raito then picked herself up from the cozy bed, "Come on, let's go get some breakfast." They both got up, quickly made the bed, then proceeded to walk through the hallway, side-by-side. When they got to the stairs, Beyond went in front of Raito. He could here a conversation going on in the kitchen, not that it _mattered_ to him at first. But then he heard someone say _L_. He instantly stopped walking, Raito must not have noticed because she bumped into him and fell. After she regained her balance, she asked, "What's wrong?" They weren't even halfway down the stairs, and she couldn't understand why he would just suddenly stop.

He put a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. She looked around, no one was in sight, but she would here voices that she knew were definitely their parents'.

"Beyond, what're we doing?" she asked, whispering.

He leaned toward her ear so their parents wouldn't hear him talking, "I think I heard them say 'L'."

"That's silly, Beyond, _L_ is just a _letter_. It's not anything significant!" she hissed, successfully hiding most of her frustration. What she said more or less came out sounding like she was concerned.

The voices could be heard again. "Hold that thought." he held his finger up to politely silence her. The raven-haired boy planted his hands on the stair rails to try and listen more closely.

"I can't help but wonder why L would be in Japan." both children could here their mother's voice from the kitchen.

The father's voice could be heard replying, "He said it was a personal case, and he said it was very important."

Beyond's large red eyes grew wider than imaginable at the mentioning of _that_ name, _that_ person. He thought he'd escaped it all, he thought it was all behind him. Now, L was in the same country. What if L followed him, just to mock him and remind him of the things L had ordered people to do to him? What if-!

"Beyond? You okay?" A certain brunette's voice broke his train of thoughts. Good thing too, he just might have gone insane, like back in England. He turned to face her slowly, still not wanting to believing what he'd just heard. Seeing her calm and curious expression almost instantly calmed his nerves. Looking at her also reminded him of the silent promise he made to himself; Never go crazy in front of Raito. She didn't need to see someone like that. She doesn't need to see what he'd seen. And he'd _never_ tell her what he'd witnessed, unless she really wanted to know. She looked at him carefully, "What's wrong?"

He looked at her, then at the wall, then at her, then back at the wall. Contemplating. He sighed out of anxiety, "...I'll tell you later... when we're alone, okay?" he asked with a worried face.

She nodded, "Alright," she paused, then returned to her more cheerful self again, "let's go get some breakfast." He nodded and walked down the stairs, through the hallway, and into the kitchen, Raito walking right beside him. They got their cereal and starting to eat at the small table in the kitchen. They munched in silence, their mother cutting vegetables by the sink, preparing for dinner. Their father was getting ready to leave for work, he came into the kitchen, still tying his necktie. He kissed his wife goodbye, then spotted the kids and approached them. "You two have a fun together, alright?" They both looked at each other and smiled, then nodded towards their father. Mr. Yagami then briefly put his hands in their hair, then walked out the door to go to the station.

Mrs. Yagami then turned to them, "Kids," she called out to them in a kind voice, their heads turned towards her. "prepare yourselves." The raven and brunette looked at each other, as if they thought the other knew what she meant by that. They turned back to her. "Because we have a big day ahead of us. Lots to do." she smiled.

The two young children still had _no_ idea what she meant by that.

* * *

**Okay, I am SOOO sorry I haven't updated this sooner. It was just laziness and it will NEVER happen again. School's coming up soon (sadly) :'( so if I don't update soon in the future, please just know that it's most likely NOT my insane laziness, but I might be busy. Idk. It's beens so long, I forget what school feels like. **

**BTW, I'm So glad that this chapter is longer than the first 2. Hurray! More words! Hope you enjoyed!**

**Anyways, 1,000 'Thank you's' for The-Living-Shadow for making this story plot possible! You're the best... and you know it! Lol.**


	5. Mom's Dang Camera!

**This is Chapter 4! Hope you like it! Not much to say, so... Enjoy! BTW, there's a little bit of one-sided LxRaito. Uh, hurray? :l**

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 4**

L had been in his hotel room in Japan for only two hours, yet he'd already started working. He'd been researching on the Yagami family. Mostly just the mother and daughter, since he was already familiar with Beyond and Soichiro. He looked at his laptop, currently sitting on the hotel bed and reading the description of the mother, Sachiko Yagami. He wanted to find a picture, but decided to work on that later.

In the search engine, he typed the, in his opinion, strange name 'Raito Yagami' and hit enter. And only one came up. _'Someone must've hit the Staples easy button, cause that was easy... Wow, Lawliet, horrible attempt at a pun.'_ The file to the daughter's profile came up, saying that she was an exceedingly intelligent individual for her age. Apparently the girl was Beyond's age and had an IQ of... 159!

_'Wow that's... very impressive, actually. If she was a Wammy girl, she could be the next L. If only...' _That made L think of something he'd heard before.

_If only, if only the woodpecker sighs,_

_the bark on the tree was as soft as the skies._

_The wolf waits below,_

_hungry and lonely,_

_and cries to the moon, "If only, if only."_

_'That's it, L, no more watching 'Holes' for you! Now work!'_ he mentally scolded himself. He looked back to his laptop, then found a link that led to her school's website, . He might be able to find some sort of yearbook picture of the girl, or... or something! Anything! He typed her name in the school's search engine and found many results. Mostly awards that Raito had apparently won from science fairs or spelling bees. One result just said 'Raito Yagami – Top Student of Sedgemill Academy'

_Click_

A page with many words showed up, and L had no intention of reading at the moment, he wanted a picture, darn it! He scrolled down, and sure enough, there were plenty of pictures. He saw the girl's previous yearbook picture from 4th grade. In the picture the girl gave a only small smile, and L could see something unhappy in her eyes, she seemed out of it, like she was off in her own little world. What caught L's attention the most was how Raito's hair was chestnut brown, and not the typical black color that you'd find in almost every Japanese person. And her previous description said that she was 100% Japanese. Odd.

L also noted how extremely attractive the little girl's feature's were. Well, as attractive as a 10-year-old girl can look to a 14-year-old. But still, L couldn't believe how nice she looked, and she probably wouldn't lose those looks with age.

_'Geez, if she was a bit older... No! She and her family are dirty, no good, rotten, orphan-thieves! Yes, that's what they all are: Orphan-thieves! Backup-thieves, even! This family disgusts me!'_ And L's mental ranting continued. _'Why would Backup even want to leave? Doesn't he want to become L when my work is done? Doesn't he want to be wealthy and successful for the rest of his live?'_ L sighed, _'Isn't that much better than a family?'_

**At the School Uniform Store:**

Both Beyond _and_ Raito were getting new uniforms today at a store called _School Bells_, since Raito's uniform was becoming too small for her to wear anymore, and she could get in big trouble if her skirt fit too short. Just thinking of how the stern principal would throw a fit made her cringe.

Their mother found a worker named Naomi to help them with the sizes and such. She helped them find the Sedgemill uniforms and got the correct sizes, then gave the children their uniforms, "Try them on and make sure everything fits well." Sachiko said kindly, and the two obeyed. How could you not, she was just such a nice woman and a great mother!

The two quickly changed into their uniforms and stepped out of their changing stalls. The two looked at their mother and Naomi, then at each other. Raito blinked at what she saw.

Beyond was in the appropriate Sedgemill uniform; A long-sleeved red dress shirt with a black necktie, and black trousers and loafers. And his red eyes and black hair went great with the uniform. The brunette-haired girl was so amazed at how _different_ Beyond looked, compared to his usual black shirt and oversized jeans. He was still adjusting his necktie, then looked at Raito. She didn't know why, but when she smiled at him, he smiled back.

Both were startled when she saw a brief flash of light in the corner of their eyes. When it passed, they look toward where it came from, and saw that their mother had the camera in her hands, and had just snapped another photo. That darn camera had become the duo's mortal enemy, since their mother would _constantly_ take pictures of them together over and over and over again! They both could tolerate it, but it was still very annoying.

"Kawaii!" Both their mother and Naomi squealed, getting some people to stare at the two women as if they were both on drugs. Raito and Beyond looked at each other again, thinking the same thing, _'WHY is she doing this to us in _public_?'_

After their mother's 'camera episode', they bought the uniforms and a red cap for Beyond, then left the store. They were finally done with everything that they needed, and now they could head towards home.

**The Japanese Task Force Station:**

In every police office, there was always one individual known as 'servant cop', the one that every other _more important_ officer would ask to refill their coffee. In the Chief's office, their 'servant cop' was none other than Matsuda. He was a new cop, and was mostly kept out of the cases, since he was a tendency to screw things up. Well, it wasn't a tendency, he screwed everything up 9 times out of 10.

Matsuda knew that he was young and usually overexcited about his job, but nobody _ever_ believed him. Everyone would just brush him off like he wasn't important enough, and it frustrated him. But this time he was sure, no _certain_, he'd spotted a suspicious man in a CTV tape. He knew it could be a lead, and the man could possibly be the little girl's murderer. The rest of the task force members were out gathering evidence, except for the Chief, and Matsuda hadn't told him about what he'd found yet.

The young officer made his way to the Chief's office with the CTV tapes to show him what he'd found. "Chief, can you look at something I found?"

The Chief looked up from his computer, "Oh sure, Matsuda. What do you have there?"

Not expecting his boss to listen so easily, Matsuda started stuttering, "U-ugh, just some t-tapes." He regained his composure as he was told to put the tapes in the VCR, "And I think one of the men in this video acts strange and seems a little suspicious."

The footage showed a many people in black and white simply walking down a sidewalk. This kept going for a long time, "This is footage of 5th Avenue. That's where-" Matsuda explained.

"She was killed." The Chief finished, staring at the television. He tried to engrave every little detail of the video into his mind.

Then one person from the crowd went into an alleyway, the same alleyway that the girl was murdered in. The Chief's eyes widened, not believing what he was seeing. The man in the video was looking in the dumpster where the girl was found, then he started laughing manically, he then left the scene. The video ended.

Mr. Yagami stood from his chair, "Matsuda, did this happen before or after the killing?"

"Before the murder, sir." He said hesitantly as he ejected the tape.

"Matsuda..." he hung his head dramatically, the younger cop looked at him with questioning eyes. "usually we have L help us, but I think I know the next best thing."

"Sir?"

The Chief suddenly snatched his car keys from his desk, "Come with me for a moment, Matsuda, the investigation needs this." And Matsuda and the Chief went to the boss's car.

**The Yagami Residence:**

The mother and children of the family pulled into the driveway of their home, they'd been out for about two hours doing mostly shopping. They got out of the car, grabbed some bags from the trunk, then entered the house. They then set aside some time for putting away what they'd purchased. After that was taken care of, Raito asked Beyond to come upstairs to 'their' room for a second.

"Yes?" he asked as the brunette shut the door.

Raito sat down on the bed and gestured for Beyond to do the same. When he did, she asked, "What does 'L' mean?"

Beyond sighed, he'd figured a smart and curious girl such as Raito would ask the first chance she got. "Before I start explaining, I just want to let you know that I don't know _everything_ and some information is classified, so some of your questions might not be answered." She nodded, and he sighed, preparing himself for the long explanation he would have to give. "L is the first orphan to grow up at Wammy's House."

"I don't understand... L is a person?" she asked, having a hard time taking in all this new information.

"Yes." he nodded.

She made a face, "And that's his _name_?" Beyond nodded again. "And it's a _he_?" The raven nodded in reply yet again.

"L is a detective, and probably only three people have seen his face, anybody rarely even knows of his whereabouts. You see, L is the name of the first 'L', by that, I mean the detective-name L. Wammy's House is where L and I grew up, was the second orphan to live there. The initial plan was; I was supposed to succeed L when he dies, I would've basically _been_ L until my own death. And when I'm gone, someone else would take my place. And the cycle would continue as such, that way the detective-name is continued for many generations." Beyond explained. "Do you get it?"

Raito thought for a moment before speaking, "But, if you're _here_, will you still succeed L when he dies?"

Beyond shook his head. "I don't belong to those people anymore..." Raito made a confused face, so the raven tried rewording everything. "Raito, I was L's plan B."

But saying that only served to confuse the brunette-haired girl even more. "Plan B?"

Beyond looked down at the floor. _'The only she'll get it is if I tell her about how L treated me, and why I was taken away from there.'_ He glanced at his sister for a moment. _'It's the only way she'll understand.'_ "At Wammy's House, Raito... I wasn't necessarily cared for like you've been all your life."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Beyond replied in a shaking voice, all the horrible memories coming back to him. "I promised myself that I wouldn't tell you about anything. And I'll warn you, Raito, it's not exactly a very pretty story."

Raito shook her head immediately, "Beyond, I want to know." the girl said sternly.

Beyond sighed, "Then I guess I'll tell you everything." She mentally smiled, glad for two reasons. First reason is that she won and got Beyond to talk about something she wanted him to tell her. And the second reason would be that she would know where her brother came from. "I don't remember my birth-parents at all, sadly. I don't even know so much as their names, or what kind of people they were. The earliest memory I have is being in the Wammy's House, and that was when I was three. I was taken in from the founder of the orphanage, Mr. Wammy... He seemed friendly at first, but when he took me in, he changed me.

He had my hair cut differently, and he was always yelling at me and telling me how to act. I remember him telling me to sit with my knees up to my chest, and to chew on my thumbnails. He told me to stand crouched over and always talk in a voice that sounded like I was half-asleep. But they would always try to find ways to keep me awake. I'd be forced to stay up for days on end. Wammy would only let me sleep night every week, but only for six hours. And all they'd feed me were old, disgusting cakes and sugary pastries. He wanted me to become someone else. He wanted me to become L."

"Why would Wammy try to make you different? I don't get why you couldn't just be yourself." said the brunette.

Just thinking about being forced to forget who he was made him start tearing up, one tear actually escaped him as he managed to explain further. "Everything that I just listed, they're all L's personal traits; He sits weird, stands with awful posture, eats his thumbnails, talks in a grouchy tone, he's an insomniac, sugar-devouring, sad excuse for a person! The man's an idiot, I've always thought that! And I hate him with all my heart, Raito, I truly do!" By now, Beyond had broken down and was now crying with no end to it in sight.

The raven-haired boy buried his face in his hands, and Raito instinctively put her arms around him. She always had a knack for calming down crying people. One day on the playground, Misa had tripped while they were playing tag together and scrapped her knee against the concrete, after that she wouldn't stop her wailing. But Raito had come to her rescue and took her to the nurse for a bandage, and then sat with the blonde on the steps just telling her it was okay.

But with Beyond, she was more cautious since she assumed he would be more rebellious towards such things, but she held him firmly anyhow. Beyond kept explaining through his tears and hiccups, "Th-They kept me in a d-dark room for days, R-Raito! They... They even p-put me in a straight jacket... t-th-thinking I w-would... kill m-myself, Raito! They thought I was crazy!" Beyond then fell apart completely, throwing himself into Raito's already open arms. He cried into her shoulder for along time, then managed to say quietly, "Please, Raito, t-tell me I'm not crazy."

Raito then decided he really needed comforting and couldn't take his situation lightly. "Shhh... it's alright." she said softly. "You're not crazy, Beyond." Their heads rested on each others shoulders. Raito's one hand patted and rubbed Beyond's back in a soft and calming manner, her other hand instinctively ran through his hair. She knew that calmed people down faster and helped them relax.

Beyond was able to speak a little easier now, since his crying was starting to die down now. "I'm sorry, Raito. I'm sorry that I'm crying over something that's behind me, and that I know can't come back to me. Please forgive me for acting like this." He pulled away and starting wiping the wetness from his face.

The girl smiled, "That's okay, just promise you'll do this for me the next time _I'm_ crying, okay?"

Beyond laughed at that. "Okay..." He smiled at her, "Thanks, Raito." and hugged her again, but this time content. He knew Raito always had ways of enlightening things. He felt very lucky to have someone so understanding and kind. Beyond loved having Raito for a sister, he couldn't have asked for a better sibling.

**Downstairs:**

_Ding! Dong! _

From inside her house, Mrs. Yagami was just starting to prepare dinner for her and her family, then the doorbell rang. She walked to the door, and opened with a friendly. She was happily surprised to her husband, but standing next to him was a younger looking man she did not know. "Hi dear, welcome home."

The younger looking man, Matsuda, made a face to her husband, "Chief, why did you take me to your house? We should be working."

He walked in his house, making a gesture for Matsuda to do the same. When they were both inside, Sachiko closed the door. "But we are working, this is for the case." Mr. Yagami then turned to his wife, "Honey, this is Matsuda, our stations newest officer. Matsuda, this is my wife, Sachiko." The two said people shook hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Yagami." said Matsuda, then towards his boss, he spoke, "Sir, I still don't understand _why_ we're here, or what it might have to do with our case."

Soichiro told him he'd found out momentarily, then he asked Sachiko, "Dear, where are Beyond and Raito?"

"They're upstairs in her room. Why?" she asked, then looked at Matsuda for an answer, but he also had no clue. It was all Mr. Yagami's idea.

"Well, Sachiko, that's why we're here right now. We need to talk to the kids."

"Oh, okay." she answered, still a little worried since he brought another officer with him. She decided that she would stick around and make sure everything was okay. She started up the stairs, "I'll go get them now." and she went.

Matsuda turned to his boss when Sachiko was out of earshot, but still whispered for good measure. "Sir, I don't understand. What's the case have to do with your kids?"

"It may have everything to do with them if my plan goes well." Then Sachiko came down the stairs with the two small children trotting behind her. Beyond and Raito saw their dad and were both happy, but then they turned to see the other officer, they immediately lost their smiles. Beyond was actually scared, and he felt worse for being so cowardly, but shouldn't have since Raito was just as scared.

_'What if something bad happened and Beyond has to go away?'_ Raito thought.

Their father spoke, "Beyond, Raito... How would you two like to work at the office as investigators with us?" he smiled. Beyond and Raito looked at each other.

_'Now wouldn't mom like to get a picture of_ that_?'_ they both thought sarcasticly.


	6. Kids Working With The Police?

**Sorry for the slow update on the previous chapter, I'll try not to let that happen again. I know I left you guys off on a cliffhanger last time! Ha-ha! I'm evil!**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 5**

An eerie silence fell upon the adults and children in the Yagami household foyer. No on was able to think of a logical explanation as to why the Chief of the NPA would put his own children in possible danger by asking them to work with the police.

While Beyond and Raito were breathing their sighs of relief, Matsuda and Sachiko were more or less... surprised.

"Wh-What! Chief, you can't put your kids' lives in jeopardy by having them work with us! What if something-!" and Matsuda continued shouting nonsense. But shockingly enough, the usually calm and cool mother of the family was losing her cool too.

"Soichiro! You know that I love you and support you with your decisions, and I respect the choices that you make, but I think that this sort of thing is out of the question!" Sachiko yelled too. Beyond and Raito were slightly shocked from seeing the sight unfold before them. Then they looked at each other, and smiled and tried to hold back their giggling, knowing they could get scolded for laughing while this was going on.

Whilst chuckling to each other Beyond said quietly in Raito's ear, "And to think, you told me chaos like this rarely happens." causing them to laugh more to themselves, pretty much forgetting the protesting happening right in front of them.

"Soichiro! Stop this foolish talking!" she shouted.

"Sir, this isn't safe and no one would benefit from this! Your kids can't contribute to the case!"

Soichiro finally spoke in defense, "Actually, I have a feeling that they _can_ contribute to the case. Both Beyond and Raito are extremely intelligent for being ten, and that could help us." he tried to explain. After some explaining, Matsuda seemed indifferent, but not objecting. He knew that he should stay out of it, he had no right to steer the argument in one direction or another. Mrs. Yagami, however, was not so willing to give up. These are her _kids_, give the lady a break!

She crossed her arms, trying to appear more confident with her opinion. But she was really just scared. "I'm still not liking this idea, Soichiro. I don't feel comfortable with my children working with the police when they're only in elementary school."

"To be honest, dear, I thought the same thing." He tried to convince her, "But those two could really be useful to us on this particular case. We found a lead thanks to Matsuda, and I don't want us to miss anything." Soichiro then thought back to a time when Raito was eight and brother-less. "Remember when Raito solved that case two years ago? She just put all the evidence together in her head, and she was right in her theory. The guy confessed to everything."

"I'm just a bit uncomfortable with this, they're ten, Soichiro. Think about it, there's no sense in this. And I'm sure the kids wouldn't feel safe."

Raito broke into the discussion, "Quite the opposite, mom. It's a _huge_ police station with _hundreds_ of officers. In the slight chance that something were to happen, I'm positive police officers, _including dad_, wouldn't let us in harm's way. I can honestly say that I'd feel very safe and comfortable there."

Soichiro asked his daughter, "Raito would you join this investigation?"

"Yes, sir." she smiled. She turned to see Beyond, who had his eyes to the floor.

_'Lawliet never trusted me with cases, but I've always wanted to try. I bet the NPA won't allow me to work on this case with them.'_ Beyond thought sadly. Raito noticed his gloomy expression.

"Beyond," she called, he looked up at her. "You know I'm not leaving you behind... right?" Beyond's eyes widened, and he grinned ear-to-ear. Sachiko sighed, everyone saw that as her giving up her protesting.

So Beyond and Raito were officially private investigators working with the police.

**Back in L's Little World:**

L was still in the same exact place he was last time we checked up on him, still trying to find an address to the Yagami residence, even though he knows their phone number. He was just about ready to shot someone out of frustration when he finally found the residence address, it was actually mentioned on the first tab he'd searched. He'd probably been lazy and must have skipped over it, and the tab was there from the very beginning. Now he _really_ wanted to shot somebody!

_Yagami Household  
__852 Kawlium Dr,  
__Yokohama  
__Kanto Region  
__15012_

_'Jesus, I feel stupid!'_ L thought. And he was feeling rather unintelligent, who wouldn't after that happened? L shook his head, reminding himself to think seriously and work again. He grabbed his cell phone, and dialed a few numbers to call Watari, who he'd, more or less, demanded to come to Japan with him.

_"Yes?"_ L could here Watari's voice on the end.

"Watari, I need your assistance in getting me to a certain address." L answered.

_"Okay, L, I'm on Google Earth. What's the address so I can figure out how to get you there?"_

"The residence is located in Yokohama, Kanto region, on 852 Kawlium Drive. And the zip code is 15012." L informed.

_"Okay. Let's see." _Watari paused and waited for the network to work and find the address. _"L, I also entered the hotel address, so according to this, the Yagami residence is approximately 15 miles from here."_

"Excellent. I would prefer going two days from today, Monday. Is that possible, Watari?" L asked his father-figure.

_"Of course. Is there anything else you need, L?" _Watari asked.

"No, Watari. Thank you." L then hung up. The reason he chose Monday to start the plan was because he needed a little extra time to think of one. L had spent/wasted most of his time researching on the Yagami family, that thinking of a plan had slipped his mind entirely. L got up from the computer he'd been at for the past two days and lay on the bed, now gazing up at the ceiling. Only one thought entered his mind:

_'You WILL belong to me once again Beyond Birthday! Or should I say... Backup?'_ L outwardly chuckled maniacally. _'Yes, precious Backup, you WILL be MINE once again.'_

**The Yagami Residence:**

After convincing Mrs. Yagami that it was safe for her children to be working with the police, the family of four (and Matsuda) discussed the rules and scheduling for Raito and Beyond. Each of them agreed to the two working only on the weekends, and both swore once they started investigating that they wouldn't talk about it with their friends. They allowed the children to work together since they got along so well. They all actually talked for many hours, and it was a half-hour past Beyond and Raito's bedtime, and Beyond had his first day at Bandmaster the next morning. Mr. Yagami offered to drive Matsuda home, so those two left, leaving Sachiko, Beyond, and Raito.

Mrs. Yagami glanced at the clock, and seeing how late it was, she sent her children to bed. Before they descended up the stairs, they looked back to make sure she wasn't taking a picture of them. She wasn't.

_'Thank God."_ thought Beyond.

_"Thank God."_ thought Raito.

In a matter of minutes the brother and sister had their pajamas on and were in bed. But they weren't as content and sleepy as the previous night, more aware of everything as they faced each other. They just looked at each other with expressionless eyes, and didn't know what to say.

_'I can't believe Daddy would do that. Beyond must think that we're a crazy family who adopts gifted, English orphans then make them work with the Japanese police. I hope Daddy knows what he's doing, and I hope he stays careful.'_ thought Raito. _'I mean, Beyond and I are young, but we aren't stupid! And what could Beyond possibly think of all this? Even though I'm excited to see how the police work on a daily basis, I think that Dad was slightly selfish in deciding on this. This can't be the best move to make right now.'_

"...So what do you make of that?" she whispered.

The boy quietly sighed, still holding eye contact with his sister. He whispered back, "It think... it's a very touchy subject," he paused, then smiled before continuing, "but I'm excited that were getting an opportunity like this."

She smiled back, mostly forgetting the negatives about working with the police, "Yeah, me too." She then remembered something, not smiling quite as much, "Are you nervous about going to school with me tomorrow?"

Beyond's smile left him, "...Yeah, very nervous actually. I hope I don't get lost if we have different classes." he admitted in a hushed tone.

Raito smiled, "Beyond, every fifth grader runs on the same schedule no matter what. And the teachers there are very friendly and let students sit where ever they want, so you can sit by me if you don't feel comfortable at first. But you'll get used to it after a few days."

Beyond sighed, but then smiled, "Okay."

The two children then fell asleep, anticipating what the next day could possibly have in store for them. They had no idea that a silent detective planned to break them apart. No idea that they could very well be in danger.

* * *

**I'm sorry that this took me forever to update. I wanted to see if I could make a chapter where I had little-to-no help, and nothing really happened, huh? Oh well, at least I didn't leave you guys hanging on a huge cliff like last time. I'll only do that if I'm feeling really crappy, sorry I did that to you guys, I hate cliffhangers as much as anybody, but I had a bad day that day. Anyways, hoped you enjoyed this. I look forward to yur reviews! :)**


	7. L is a Genius

**Here's the newest chapter, hope you like it. Not really much to say about this one. I just hope that it's longer than the previous one. **

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 6**

_Beyond and Raito were eating their breakfast at the kitchen table, already dressed in their uniforms, except for the red caps that they had to wear when outside. The two kept munching away on their bacon and eggs (A/N: Yummy!) as they ignored their mother taking pictures of them. The camera's flash filling the yellow room. But why did Raito seem out of it? And why did everything seem to be going in slow-motion?_

_They silently finished their breakfasts and went to head out for a day of learning. They grabbed their backpacks and opened the door. But they couldn't walk forward because someone had been waiting for them. That someone was L Lawliet. _

_To Beyond, L looked menacing and evil, Beyond turned to Raito, hoping the strong girl would let her wrath break loose. But she simply stared at L, smirking evilly. She spoke to L, referring to Beyond, "You want him back? Take him back, I don't care." She laughed when L roughly took Beyond by his hair and dragged him into the car with Watari in the driver's seat. The van drove off, and the red-eyed boy screamed at the top of his lungs, **"I DON'T WANNA GO BACK!"**_

Beyond woke up wide-eyed, his chest heaving and his forehead damp with sweat as he lay in his little sister's bed with her. It was still dark. He turned to the nightstand, it told him it was 3:37AM. He looked at Raito, fast asleep and facing him. Beyond was now catching his breath as he sighed, then tucked himself back into the blankets.

_'What a nightmare.'_

**In L's Hotel Room:**

L had come up with his plan. He would simply take Backup from the Yagami home by force, weather Backup wanted to come with him or not wasn't at all a concern to him. What he wanted was his Backup. And what he would get was his Backup. No matter what.

_Beep-Beep!_

L's incoming call interrupted his dramatic and, in his opinion, brilliant thinking. It was Watari calling him. He clicked the W on his screen, connecting to the other end, "Yes, Watari?" Instead of a normal reply, L heard his caretaker coughing on the other end. His coughing didn't sound too healthy. "Watari? Are you okay?" he asked with little interest in his tone since he'd been thinking very deeply only moments ago.

_"L, I apologize, but I seem to have caught a virus."_ he said in a stuffy voice.

"What do you mean?" L asked, his eyes half-lidded. Why was this happening? And _now_?

Watari coughed again, then said, _"I'm afraid I will not be able to drive you to the Yagami residence today. I sincerely apologize, I did not foresee such a thing to happen."_

L sighed and rolled his eyes. This was a setback. Without Watari he couldn't go anywhere, he wasn't old enough to drive. But even if he was, he wouldn't risk his life by driving. But anyways, yes, this was _definitely_ a setback. "Alright, for now you just worry about getting healthy again. I'll call Wedy and have her set up cameras and wire taps in their house, that way I can at least keep an eye on Backup."

_"Thank you, sir. I'm sorry this is holding you back from your main goal."_ the elderly man sniffed.

"No. Now that I think about it, Watari, this is probably the best course of action to take right now. I'll contact Wedy right away. Get better, Watari. Goodbye." L then hung up from his computer. He then pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, dialed a few numbers, then held the phone to his ear in his strange way.

_Ring_

_Ring_

_Rin-Click!_

_"Hello?"_ the blonde woman's voice could be heard on the other end of the call.

"Hello, I'm speaking to Miss Wedy, correct?"

_"Yes. And I'm speaking to L, aren't I?" _Wedy chuckled.

"Yes, you are. How did you guess?" L asked curiously.

_"I don't know anyone other than you who talks with such class and etiquette." _she then changed the subject, _"So, L, what do you need help with?"_

L then explained his situation to Wedy, and how Watari was now feeling ill, she understood then promised to do her best. L was a very happy camper after he heard that, he knew Wedy usually did everything she was asks to do, but when she started making promises, she never broke them. Before hanging up, Wedy gave him a piece of advice, _"They're both ten, huh? Well, I don't know about you, L, but when I was ten, I wasn't inside my house all day. I did stuff outside with my friends and sisters. I'm sure Beyond and this Raito girl do stuff together, so I could bug their clothes if you want me to."_

L thought for a moment before answering, "Hmm... No. That won't be necessary. I have a better plan in mind." Just as Wedy was going to ask what he had up his sleeve, he hung up. Then chuckled to himself.

_'They don't call me a genius for nothing. Prepare yourself, Backup, I'm gonna get you!'_

**The Yagami Residence – Morning Time:**

Sachiko Yagami opened Raito's bedroom door, looked in, and saw her two children sleeping deeply. She felt guilty that she'd have to wake them up and deprive them of sleep. But, she was a mother, and sometimes mothers had to show tough love. She approached the bed, and saw more clearly the faces of her precious sleeping children.

She _almost_ went downstairs at grab her camera so she could snap a photo, but decided that she wouldn't have enough time. She placed her hand on Raito's shoulder and gently shook it. Raito groaned in response. "Come on, honey. You and Beyond have school today." the sweet mother said calmly.

Raito slow fought her way out of sleepiness, and rubbed her eyes. "Ugh... Beyond," she said in a crackly voice as she gently shook his shoulder as her mother did to him.

Beyond took a sharp intake of breath, as if to show he was awake, "Mmm?" he lazily replied, not bothering to give an intelligent response.

"Hey, wake up. We gotta go to school."

"Alright, alright." he groaned, forcing his body to move and threw the covers off himself. Their mother exited the room and went to the kitchen to start a new and special breakfast she was eager to try making.

Meanwhile, her children were upstairs getting ready for Beyond's first day at a school, _ever_. Back at, well, the-place-Beyond-used-to-be, they just dumped books into his white room. Some of the books were in different languages, like Latin, Polish, Hebrew, or Spanish. And he didn't know how to read any of it, so when they would try to quiz him on the material that was apparently in the books, he would fail. And they punished Beyond and called him stupid for it.

_'But all that stuff is over,'_ he reminded himself, _'today is a day for new and better things to start. And Raito will be there ever step of the way, of that I am sure.'_

Mere minutes later, Beyond and Raito shared a mirror and looked at themselves in it. At a glance, all a stranger would see is black and red with a small dot of brown; Raito's hair. They looked at each other, and Raito sighed, "You ready to eat?"

"Yeah," the boy in black and red nodded.

The two exited their room, and made their way down the stairs, only to be greeted with a flash of light. Only one simultaneous thought between the brother and sister, _'That __dang__ camera!'_

Their mother viewed the picture she'd just taken, cooing, "Aww! You two look so adorable, especially in the uniforms!"

Raito rolled her eyes, but asked politely, "Okaa-san, what's for breakfast?"

Their mother was instantly drawn away from the camera. She looked at her son and daughter, turned off the camera, and said, "Come to the kitchen, let me show you what I made." She led her uniformed ten-year-old's into the kitchen, and they followed her like little ducklings.

Once in the kitchen, Sachiko showed them what she'd put on plates for them already. The breakfast made Raito tilt her head curiously, and look at it carefully. But Beyond's eyes widened, too freaky. Their mother spoke, "I did some research, and this is apparently a fairly popular breakfast in England and America, so I thought I'd try my hand at making some different things for you guys to eat. I figured it might make Beyond more comfortable to eat things that he's more familiar with. So, what do you two think?"

Raito seemed to ponder over what to say for a while, but finally said, "...What's it called?" she held her staring contest with the food.

Beyond nearly fainted when his mother replied, "Bacon and eggs." She didn't say it quite right, since the woman only knew Japanese, and no other languages.

Raito finally looked at her mother, "...Bacon and eggs... huh." She smiled at her mother, "Arigatou, Okaa-san." (Means: Thank you, mother)

Sachiko nodded as her children sat in their seats and started eating. They were quiet but Beyond's mind was going crazy. _'This is a coincidence! This is a coincidence! Mother would have no way of knowing that this was a small detail in my nightmare. And if she did, she wouldn't make them. But what if that nightmare was some kind of message, telling me to be careful and watch my back? Well, being a little cautious today wouldn't look strange to anybody, they'd just think I'm nervous about my first day of school. _

_Okay, so I do have to watch myself today. Not so much at school, since Raito says there are lots of other kids there, but more so on the way walking to and from school. And since Raito will be with me, I gotta make sure she stays safe too... Wow, I've heard some stereotypes about fathers being protective of their daughters, but not so much with slightly older brothers and their slightly younger sisters. Strange._

_But that's besides the point, Raito doesn't treat me like I was treated before, she understands me. And I believe I understand her as well, or, at least, I like to think I do.'_

Soon, the children finished their breakfasts and went to brush their teeth. They did that in silence as well. Why was Raito so quiet today? Beyond pondered over this question for only a moment before shrugging it off, thinking she was just tired from getting to bed late the previous night.

The brother and sister walked down the stairs, grabbed their backpacks, put their caps on, and told their mother that they were heading out for school. Their mother stopped them to take another quick picture, which made Raito want to pull her hair out in frustration. Once Raito made the excuse, "Mom, we should get going." their mother nodded her head in agreement.

Raito then closed the distance between herself and the door. She quickly checked to make sure Beyond was ready and had his cap on, since it was an important aspect to her. She opened the door and saw...

* * *

**Ohh! Scary cliffhanger! Will Beyond see his nightmare become reality? Will he even _have_ a first day of school? Find out in the next chappie!**

**I have to thank all of the people who have either read, reviewed, or contributed to this story! Sooo... Thank you! ^_^ Sorry this one took a little longer than I wanted it to, I'll try to refrain from doing that in the future!**


	8. Wedy's Pity and Guilt

**This chapter reveals the question. Does L become impatient and show up on the doorstep? Or does some other bad person come along? Time to find out! The suspense is killing everyone! XD**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 7**

_Once Raito made the excuse, "Mom, we should get going." their mother nodded her head in agreement. _

_Raito then closed the distance between herself and the door. She quickly checked to make sure Beyond was ready and had his cap on, since it was an important aspect to her. She opened the door and saw..._

...nothing but the clear, crisp sky and the orange autumn leaves falling in the wind. Beyond, surely much like you, breathed a mighty sigh of relief, but knew he still had to stay on his toes.

Raito walked out and Beyond followed, it was chilly and windy that morning, and there was also some thin fog. The brother and sister were now walking along the sidewalk to make their way to school.

At one point in their walk, Raito and Beyond both saw a blonde woman walking in their direction, but not directly at _them_, just walking. She wore her outfit with sunglasses on. _'Yeah, I hate the morning glare too.'_ thought Raito, understanding. Beyond, however, thought it seemed suspicious. When the three people passed each other, Raito held her head downward, forcing herself not to stare. Her mother always scolded her when she accidentally stared at someone. But Beyond gave the woman a sideways glare, with made him look downright demonic with his red eyes, almost how a serial killer would look. (A/N: Did anyone see what I just did? XD )

For the rest of the walk, both were quiet, preoccupied with their thoughts.

Raito was nervous for her brother, _'I hope everyone's nice to him... if not, I'm afraid that I might lose my temper. I wonder what Mikami and Misa will say about him, and if they'll accept him into our group. I hope those two obsessive Raito-fans don't think I'm paying to much attention to Beyond alone. But it's his first day for Kami's sake! He's not familiar with where he's at! Oh geez, I'm so nervous for him!'_

Beyond, however, was still playing sleuth, _'Everything so far has been okay. No one seems to be out here, other than a few people out for morning walks. Well, everyone seems normal except for that blonde lady. And nobody appears to be watching or following us. So far, everything's okay.'_

Five minutes later, on the opposite end of the street, the large brick school could be seen. Beyond swallowed, feeling more nervous than ever. Children of different looks and heights were entering the school's large front doors, ready for another day of elementary education. Beyond took a deep breath, then let it out in an attempt to calm his nerves down. He was a little startled to feel Raito's hand patting his back, but he found the touch comforting. Raito sighed, then smiled at her brother, "You think you're ready?" she asked.

Beyond thought for a moment, trying to imagine what today would have in store for him. Couldn't think of anything too horrible. He felt prepared, and nodded his head, "Yeah," he said. "I'm ready." He smiled to reassure her he was okay. So the two crossed the street and entered the building.

**The Yagami Residence:**

Home alone, Sachiko Yagami suddenly remembered something while she was dusting the furniture in her living room. She'd wanted to go to Walmart and get some paint cards with the different colors on them for Beyond. He still hadn't gotten his paint color or furniture picked out, and she was worried that they were going to take longer on the project than they anticipated, and the mother didn't want the poor boy to sleep in Raito's room with her longer than he needs to. Being with her was just fine with her, but she knew everyone needed their privacy every now and then.

The mother and wife put away her dusting rag, grabbed her purse, slid on her shoes and headed out the door, keys in hand. She stepped out into her car, started it, and backed out of her driveway towards the Walmart.

Meanwhile, on the side of the street, standing on the sidewalk, the middle-aged blonde dressed in black with sunglasses on stayed in her position, pretending to talk on the phone. She kept her eyes on the car as it drove down the street, and didn't move for a few moments, so as to not attract any attention from the neighbors. When the time was right, she made her move. The blonde woman, called Wedy, approached the house, then she carefully picked the lock of the front door, then stepped inside. She could smell the fresh scent of the duster Sachiko had been using to clean with.

Wedy got right to work, trying to find good places to put the bug-sized cameras and wiretaps. She started with the living room, putting one in a decorative plant, one behind the air vents, and one right under the television. That way L could view the family if they were watching it, as he specifically ordered it to be done. Why did she promise? She honestly hated doing this, and to such a sweet looking family too! She thought as she glanced at some pictures on the walls, taking a little too much time admiring their happy faces.

The woman agilely moved from one room to another, placing three cameras in each room silently. Wedy then made her move upstairs, planting the small cameras and wiretaps in the parent's bedrooms, then she came to a white room, which she almost called L about. But thinking it must have been a project room, she thought she'd wait until the room was completed. Then she noticed the ceiling fan, and she stuck three cameras and wiretaps on that.

When she came to the girl's room. She received specific instructions to put as many cameras and wiretaps as possible in this particular room. L had a hunch that Backup and the Raito girl spent most of their time there. But Wedy silently promised to herself, before she even started any of this, that she would only place three cameras and three wiretaps per room. And she absolutely and mentally _refused_ to place either cameras or wiretaps in bathrooms.

Sure she kept her promises to others, but not before her promises to herself.

Wedy soon finished her job and fled the scene after making sure the house was as it was before she entered (except the cameras and wiretaps of course). Wedy fled several streets down from the Yagami's, and figured she was virtually safe. She walked a little more, though, just to be extra safe.

But, _God_, did she feel guilty!

Seeing those two kids for the first time, and seeing those eyes, she remembered thinking to herself at that moment, _'So that's Beyond.'_ Wedy was what most people would call 'a tough lady', but she was still a woman. And women cared for other people. And, truth be told, Wedy had a soft spot for kids.

Wedy complained in her thoughts, _'I mean, suuure, I can go to any country I want to steal thousands of dollars just for fun, or break into government offices to steal confidential information just to mess with people's heads, but spying on a child and talking about him and acting as if he were an object is different! _

_I'm an expert thief! Not a stalker, or a rapist, or a pedophile! *Gasp!* Definitely __not__ a pedophile! L may think differently, but to me, placing cameras and wiretaps in a little girl's and boy's room is totally and utterly wrong! But it seems that no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to understand why L wants to spy on these kids in the first place, or why he wanted the red-eyed child back with him again.'_

Then Wedy really started to wonder,_ 'Hmm... Despite the fact that I've never seen L's face before, I think it's safe to say that L and Beyond aren't related at all. Anytime L mentioned the kid, he never sounded concerned about him.' _

Wedy took out a red cell phone from her pocket, and dialed up L. She needed to give him a report on what she did, weather she wanted to or not. And if she could decide, she'd rather not.

L answered quickly, "_Yes? Wedy?"_

Wedy replied, "Everything's done, and just as you asked."

_"How many cameras did you place in the girl's room?"_

"I placed 3 cameras and 3 wiretaps in that certain room."

_"Wow, I'm impressed. Very good work, Wedy." _

"Yes. Thank you, L." She made sure she sounded polite, even thought she was obviously ticked off because of L making her feel guilty. She then abruptly asked, "L, why do you want the boy back with you again so badly?"

At first, L said nothing, he was clearly caught off guard by Wedy's sudden question._ "It's because the child is legally my property."_ There he went again, talking about the child as if he were his owner. It disgusted Wedy to no end.

"But L, Beyond looked so happy and content with his family. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Wedy asked incredulously.

_'Those people are not his family.'_ L answered with a bored tone. So bored, in fact, it sounded as if he'd rather be doing anything else than talking to the blonde thief.

"L, blood doesn't make a family." she shot back, thoroughly ticked off now. How could L be so heartless? He could just be in some sort of adolescent phase, but if he kept up this sort of behavior, Wedy vowed to never work for him again.

L sighed loudly on the other end of the call, _"...You could be right, but the child is very important, and his future has already been planned out for him."_

Wedy's brows furrowed together, "...L...What do you mean by that?" and anger was still present in her tone.

_"The boy is to become a detective."_

Wedy's confusion and angered only increased, "What if Beyond doesn't _want_ to become a detective?" she asked quite rudely.

_"The first time we were introduced, I sensed that his mind was filled with anger and hate towards myself, and he sought revenge against me. It didn't surprise me. But our goal was to replace all that spite and madness with high intelligence. After 6 years, we were more than halfway there, then he was stolen. Basically, we were trying to save him from what we feared he could become."_

Wedy nearly shouted into her phone, "And what might _that_ be?"

_"A criminal."_

The blonde woman was now infuriated. It was the way L said 'criminal', like he was 100% against criminals. She tightened the clench of her fists, thinking he had purposely forgotten her own occupation.

But it was all okay to hire (use) criminals when served for his own gain. Yeah!

Wedy rolled her eyes; _'Hypocrite'_

In the real world, she replied, "I bet will become a criminal, but he has his reasons. Half of the things you had ordered to be done to him are legally considered child abuse." The blonde woman got so into telling L off, that this slipped without her knowing, "That orphanage is a torture house, and should be shut down permanently. And all of your 'errand runners' who are responsible for harming that little boy in any way should be arrested, along with _you_." Wedy felt a little better after that, smiling in her mind.

L took a few seconds to recover from taking that blow, finally settling with, _"I have no more to say to you."_ then he hung up.

But Wedy was still proud of herself, and decided to go get a candy bar as a self pat-on-the-back.

* * *

**That's that, hope you liked it! Surprisingly, this only took me about 10 or 11 days to post! I'm happy! ^_^ Reviews with ideas or suggestions are helpful, and constructive criticizem - (however u spell that) is welcome as well! Thank you! **

**I want to thank The-Living-Shadow for curing my writer's block a well. sooo thank u!**


	9. I Had The Best Day With You

**I'm really excited about this chapter! I've been so ready for this one. I have something about Misa in my head, but I think I'll wait til next chapter!**

**And I officially want to thank ANYONE who's took the time to read or review this! :D**

**Just a little note: I noticed that I mixed up the school names (Sedgemill and Bandmaster) in a previous chapter, but we'll just pretend that it says Raito has always gone to Bandmaster, not Sedgemill. Sorry I screwed up that small detail, but your IQ is higher than Raito's if you noticed it before! X)**

**Thank You, Readers! ^_^**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting **

**Chapter 8**

When Beyond and Raito reached the 5th grade door, Raito paused and turned to her brother, her hands now on his shoulders "Look, I don't mean to sound like Mom when I say this, but if you become uncomfortable or need anything, just tell me, okay?"

Beyond shrugged, but then suddenly remembered, _'I'm supposed to act shy and cautious when I'm around her, that way if I need to, I can look around and make sure no one's following us when we get out of school.'_ Beyond slipped into character, "Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden."

"No no no, Beyond, it's no trouble at all. This is _your_ big day. But if it turns out it's too much for you, just tell me." she looked at him kindly, but also sternly.

Beyond decided to seal the deal with an act of innocence, "What if you're not there? What do I do?" He even gave her perfect, puppy dog eyes to really convince her.

Raito smiled, trying to assure him he'd be okay, "If I'm not there, just tell the teacher. She's so nice and compassionate, she actually reminds me of Mom sometimes." They both smiled weakly at that. Raito's arms fell to her sides from Beyond's shoulders.

Beyond closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, then let it out, "Okay... let's go in." And Raito opened the door to the classroom, along with many opportunities for Beyond and his future.

Upon entering that morning, basic things happened; Beyond received his textbooks for his classes, he got his own little cupboard for his things with his name on it, and was given his very own desk! In his seat, Raito was on his right, and some kid called Mikami sat to his left. Mikami, Beyond noticed, was the almost the tallest in the class, next to some Haru kid who Raito said got held back three times. Mikami also had black hair, and grey-rimmed glasses and brown eyes.

Beyond quickly came to realize that Mr. Mikami wasn't very fond of where Beyond was sitting. His reason was, "...you're blocking my once perfect view of Raito's face in profile." and he also said something about Raito being a goddess. Mr. Mikami was officially about to get his name on the red eyed boy's weird list, and Beyond didn't understand why Mr. Mikami didn't just talk to her if he apparently liked her so much.

Behind him sat a bubbly blonde girl, and she kept bugging Raito about not being able to multiply decimals on her homework. It was just complaining really, and it quickly annoyed everyone, since she was complaining so _loudly_. But Raito got up anyway and showed her how to do the mathematical problems step-by-step. Then suddenly, while the brunette was in the middle of helping the blonde girl, the blonde exclaimed, "That's your _brother_!" as if she'd just figured this all out in her head, and made some sort of historical discovery. Everyone looked at her as if she was an alien, because had Raito told her friends, including Mikami and the blonde girl, about Beyond prior to his arrival.

_'...Geez...that's some _serious_ ADD.' _thought Beyond.

But Raito smiled, only slightly nervous since she knew the girl could be unpredictable almost all the time. The brunette nodded, "Yes, this is my brother. Uh, Misa, this is Beyond. Beyond, that's Misa."

"Beyond?" Misa outwardly pondered, "That's your _name_?" she smiled, but to his sister it seemed like she was making fun of it.

"Yes." he said simply, his eyebrows raised, making him look innocent.

"Well, I think that name is stup-" Misa started, but was cut off by the only brunette, who knew Misa was about to insult Beyond. And Raito knew _why_ she would do that, because Misa craved Raito's constant attention.

"Isn't my name so strange and stupid, though?" she started, mostly talking to Misa, pretending Misa wasn't just in the middle of making a statement. Beyond looked at her funny, and Mikami gasped. He then started mumbling nervously to himself about why 'his perfect Raito' would say that. "I mean, the kanji seems a little messed up when you think about it. The kanji symbol used for my first name means moon. But it translates into light in English. And since Raito is the Japanese term for light, that's how it's read. Kinda strange, isn't it?" she fake laughed.

Everybody had something on their minds that they wanted to say. But the bell rang, signaling morning announcements would start, and right after, first period.

Classes went fast, and Beyond always had someone with him (Raito). And this turned out to be everyone's schedule, and things that happened in each class:

Reading – Beyond and Raito sat together and paired up to read their assignment. But they found the story too easy and uninteresting, so they found a book called Flowers for Algernon. They really like that story. (1)

Grammar – Raito's least favorite class, Beyond discovered it's his too. But they managed.

Health – Learned about muscles and bones and why they were there. Beyond kept saying, "Interesting." and feels a strange desire to dissect something.

Math – Misa got in trouble for not doing her homework. Even though they knew it was mean, Beyond and Raito kept snickering. (2)

Lunch – Ate kyūshoku with tom yum! (3)

Recess – Mikami, Beyond, Raito, and Misa all played 20 questions. Beyond discovered he's very good at it.

Science – Beyond had Raito ask the teacher if they could dissect something, but she said they'd do that in when they go to the middle school. This made Beyond look forward to going there.

Gym – Everyone played soccer outside, but Raito and Beyond were on opposite teams. Raito played goalie, and when Beyond kicked the ball the score, she got hit on the head with it. Beyond was worried, especially when she fell backwards on her butt, but she just laughed it off and said she was okay.

History – Beyond learned about the bombings of Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, and how they affected the outcome of World War 2.

Then the whole class went back to their homerooms. Beyond had fun, and was excited for another day. He'd never done anything like that before, and to him, it felt like a field trip! He was happy, Raito was glad to see him so happy.

**With L:**

"So you'll do it?" L asked the man on the phone. He sat on the floor of his hotel room, none of the lights on, complete darkness.

_"Yeah, sure."_ the voice replied.

"Make sure you take note of what they do, then call me when they're in their house again and tell me what happened. If you're able to, try to listen to what they talk about... And if the boy does anything that may harm somebody, capture him and bring him to me immediately. Understood?"

_"Yes sir, uh... Sir, when should I start following them?"_

"Immediately."

L hung up. His plan would go perfectly now, his Backup would be with him.

L Lawliet laughed darkly.

_'This is what I had up my sleeve the entire time, Backup. Be ready when I make my move!'_ L thought...

**Bandmaster Academy:**

_"Walkers are dismissed at this time. Walkers are dismissed at this time."_ the voice behind the intercom repeated, signaling that it was time for Beyond and Raito to head home. They said their farewells to Misa and Mikami, then walked through the maze of school hallways.

They walked out and put their red traffic caps on their heads, and headed home. Beyond seemed ecstatic, and Raito joined in on his excitement. She saw Beyond's already big eyes triple in size many times throughout school.

As they kept walking, Beyond's personality seemed to change, he seemed... more his age. Cheerful. Happy. The raven turned so he was facing Raito and walking backwards, his hands thrown in the air with extreme excitement. The boy kept talking about how much fun it had been, and how much he enjoyed going there.

Raito smiled a _real _smile and nodded, "Well, I'm glad one of us likes school."

Beyond looked puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Well," she looked up and thought about it for a moment. She tried asking herself why she didn't want to be there. _'...Why?...Why?...Why?...'_ The repeated question kept coming at her like bullets, not under her control. "I guess I just feel like it's too easy most of the time."

"Too easy?" Beyond tilted his head.

"I mean," She shrugged her shoulders, "yeah, it's... everything everyone else is learning is just boring because I feel like I've already learned it. And it's just all really boring to me." Beyond just gave her a look that seemed to say, _'Like?'._ "Take reading class for example, you and I didn't find The Phantom Tollbooth entertaining, so we read Flowers for Algernon instead, which comes from an 8th grade book. All because we didn't find the first story interesting enough."

Beyond nodded, "Well, maybe we're just too smart for that school." he joked.

Raito chuckled very cutely, "Maybe."

Meanwhile, Beyond's outside follower took note of what they were saying. He wanted to make sure he did a good job, his fiance and son were depending mostly on him for financial gain. He couldn't let them down, so he tried his hardest to hear what they were talking about. He wrote down:

School.

Reading eighth grade books. _'Wait, aren't they in fifth grade?...Oh, whatever.'_

Their high intelligence.

Then the children were near their house, and their follower couldn't be seen at any time whatsoever. So he hid in an alleyway one street down and took out his cell phone.

He dialed L, _"Hello, this is L."_ he answered.

"L, I'm done. Both children are now in the house."

L wasn't talking rude much, maybe because he could now keep an eye on his Backup, even if he wasn't there. _"Yes, I know. The cameras and wiretaps, remember? So, anyways, what did they talk about, and how did he act?"_

The man took out his notes again, "They talked about their school day. The girl said how she found school dull, boring, and easy, but Backup still seemed happy to be able to go there."

_"He had his first day? In a real school"_ L asked, mostly to himself, and seemed a little angry from that. The original plan when Backup was still with him was to keep him completely isolated from other children his age. He thought at first, _'Him being acquainted with the Yagami daughter shouldn't do any harm.'_ but now that he was in a _huge class_ with other people his age, L was concerned and angry. But mostly, angry.

"I would say it's safe to assume that, yes."

_"And how did they act?"_ L repeated.

"From what I saw, the boy was ecstatic about school, but the girl was indifferent on the subject."

_"...Okay...Thank you, this really helps."_

"How so?" the man asked, then quickly added, "If you don't mind my asking."

_"Well, I'm keeping note of everything Backup does. How he acts, what he says, and his actions towards others, especially Miss Raito. And this is because when I have him back, he will be punished for doing anything I don't see fit. And that's just how it is."_ L answered.

L's agent was a little caught off guard by what L had said, but nonetheless replied, "Oh, okay."

_"But you did a great job today, and you didn't talk rudely to me like my previous employee. For that, I thank you for your service, Raye Penber."_

* * *

**Ohhh! So now L's got Raye Penber to do his dirty work for him! Did anyone enjoy this chapter? I honestly had so much fun writing this! I'm starting to not hate writing this story as much! Yay! **

**(1) I'm reading this in my reading class, and it's good... but the ending's sad**

**(2) Well, she _is_ a bitch, even if she's only ten **

**(3) Look it up on Google, it's real!**

***Review please! It would make me happy!***


	10. Punishment List

**Oooooh! I left you guys off on a pretty intense moment there, didn't I? Ha-ha! :D Thank you to everyone who has read or reviewed this, you guys were my training wheels in the beginning when I was just starting out. But guess what, I'm a big kid now! I can mostly do it by myself! See? **

**Lol. Enjoy!..._or die!_ Just kidding! ^_^'**

**Um, the beginning part that's slanted to the right was all written by The-Living-Shadow. Thank you!**

**:)**

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 9**

_/_

**イエスは子供たちを愛して少し、世界の子供たちはすべて、赤と黄色、黒と白、彼らは目の彼にある貴重な、イエスは、世界の子供を少し愛している。**

_/_

_Wammy's House was truly amazing; the most expensive computers money could buy, thick walls to keep the cold out, and high-tech air conditioning in almost every room to make summers bearable._

_Well, the house was amazing for the adults, anyway._

_Roger, the caretaker, hated children. No one could really understand why he was in charge of looking after the orphanage and its orphans, but many guessed it was because he was best friends with Wammy and had known L personally from childhood._

_In other words; he knew too much about L to be let go._

_For the children whom weren't smart enough in the competition to be 'number one', living at the orphanage was awful. Since Roger and even the adults only seemed to be interested in the main three, the children who weren't as smart basically had to look after themselves._

_This may sound reasonable, but what if one of the children had a nightmare? How could they tell who wouldn't laugh, make jokes, or plainly tell them to grow up and get back to bed? After all, most of the teachers were unmarried and didn't have families._

_To put in simple terms; each of them are professionals in their subjects and paid only to teach. _

_And even if they did, most of them didn't understand why a child would need soft words or even just a hug for comfort. Education is important and benefits greatly to having a successful future. _

_But you can love a job, but the job won't love you back._

_Because of these facts, most of the children were antisocial and hated showing their emotions to others. Some of them were lucky; since they'd lost their families around the same time they were able to make friends and comfort each other for their losses. But that's like saying every orphan would lose their family on the same day. Most of them had to find their own comfort and deal with their own problems without feeling like a fool._

_This is probably why most of them were geniuses in a subject; they couldn't handle the real world, so they put all their time into books._

_No one wants to feel the pain of loss, but it's worse to realize that no one would comfort you anyway if you tried to get over the pain, since you had no one._

_That's why B, or Beyond, shocked them all. It was quite obvious the boy was slowly losing his mind, and being first in line of 'L's true successor', no one even tried to bother with him or see what he was like. He was already cared for, after all._

_But... why did he go away?_

_Wasn't being 'number one' a good thing? He must have been cared for properly, and not tossed aside like they were, so... Why?_

_Were the successors treated worse than them? Did they have to somehow deal with more pressure on order to stay the best? Or was Beyond just bored and wanted something other than the life of an orphan of Wammy House?_

_Maybe... he just didn't want to end up like A, or Apprentice, whom had hanged himself because of how much he hated being whom he was and the person he'd become._

_Most of the children didn't know what to think about Beyond or why he left when he himself had the greatest title, but none of them would admit; they were proud someone had stood up to the adults, and slightly jealous that he now had the life they always wanted, Especially the small children whom just wanted a mother's hug and a father to protect them._

L sat in his dark hotel room, just getting off the phone, he'd set up monitors so he could watch the Yagami family. Recently, L had Watari buy him white bed sheets. L had covered everything in the room with them, including the furniture, the walls, and the windows. The only light in the room was the artificial light from the multiple computer monitors.

He was currently watching Mrs. Yagami, the doting housewife. L wasn't usually concerning himself with the woman, but when he did, he loathed her. He bet Backup called her Mother, which frustrated him.

She was sitting at the kitchen desk and currently looking at the paint cards she'd gotten that morning for Beyond's room, she'd picking out some bright colors; red, blue, yellow, orange, green. Basically a little bit of everything.

On one of L's different monitors, the front door of the Yagami home opened, and a small child came bursting forth. Backup yelled, _"Mom! Hey, Mom!"_ he sounded cheerful and excited. L gritted his teeth, glaring evilly at the boy in the monitors, as if he truly thought it would make the boy cower in fear. The detective then glanced down at the list of things he'd soon punish Backup for. He grabbed it, and scrawled down on the paper:

**_Referring to Sachiko Yagami as 'Mom'_**

L looked back to the monitors from his paper, now seeing the picture perfect daughter enter through the doorway quite normally and calmly compared to B. He saw her bright smile as she glanced up and saw Beyond run up the stairs to look for Mrs. Yagami, and L shifted a little bit in his position with sudden discomfort. This case might be harder than he'd initially anticipated.

On the monitor L had previously watching Sachiko, before the kids came home from school, his Backup showed up. L zoomed in on B's face and saw how his eyes were now wider than the young detective had ever seen them. The sunlight that came in through the window seemed to make his eyes glow, but not in an eerie way like you may think.

_"Mom, school was so much fun! I met new people, learned new things, and Raito and I read an eighth grade book called Flowers for Algernon! It's really good, but I'll tell you about that later! Can I tell you about what happened today?" _B was speaking with such enthusiasm, and his talking seemed rushed, everything he said came at you like a harsh wind.

_"Sure sweetie, but let's go in the family room, that way we can sit down. It looks like you have a lot you want to tell me._

L watched the two trot down the stairs and walk towards the living room. After they both sat down, Raito appeared and sat by Beyond, and joined him in reliving the day. She sat on the couch beside her brother and listened in on the conversation too, and added in small details she'd notice Beyond would forget. The rest of the time, she'd smile at Beyond's happiness and excitement.

And L heard and saw everything too.

_"Grammar was my least favorite subject, but it was easy. In reading class, Raito and I really quickly finished a boring story called The Phantom Tollbooth. Then Raito showed me where the super advanced books were, and we started to read a really cool story called Flowers for Algernon, wait... I already told you that, huh?"_ Beyond smiled. Raito and her mother both laughed at that, they both knew they absolutely adored Beyond to begin with, but even more when he was so social and ecstatic like this.

Raito added in, _"Did you tell her about gym?" _and L blushed, that was the first time he'd heard Raito's perfect, velvety voice. Beyond then laughed, remembering what had happened in that particular class.

He looked back to their mother, _"Yeah, in gym we played soccer, and Raito and I were on different teams, and she plays goalie on her team. I get up to the net, kick it, but then it hit Raito in the head."_

The mother raised her eyebrows at Raito, as if to ask, _Are you okay?_ But Raito waved it off with an, _"I was fine. I fell down, but I laughed it off."_

Beyond spoke, "_Yeah,"_ He turned to Raito, _"But I did feel kinda bad."_ he said.

_"That's okay,"_ she smiled.

The mother cut in, _"Well, from what I'm hearing, you two had a great day!"_ the mother stood up from her chair, and started to walk towards the kitchen. Her kids followed her, and L's eyes followed them.

L thought of another idea to put on his list, the one with every 'bad' thing 'his' Backup did. He added:

**_Getting attached to the Yagami family_**

The young detective switched his gaze back to the monitor screen, resuming his initial work. He listened to Raito's 'perfect' voice again, _"Mom, what time is Daddy going to be home today?"_

The mother replied, _"He'll be home soon. But in the meantime, why don't you two go get changed out of your uniforms?"_

The duo looked down at their clothing, as if they'd forgotten that they still had them on – which they did. They smiled funnily at their mother, then at each other, _"Oh yeah." _then they both dashed for the stairs,_ "Be right back!"_

In the middle of all the running and giggling with Beyond, Raito wondered, _'I've never been like this before, and neither has Beyond. I wonder what it was about school that made him like this, what suddenly sparked him into this... happier, child-like kid? Aw, the heck with it! I'm having fun!'_ and she no longer concerned herself with such thoughts.

L, on the other hand, had to keep watching this. He found watching them to be very boring, and he was also anticipating the arrival of the father, Soichiro. But, he had to wait. And so, he watched the children change out of their uniforms, and he watched Raito teach Beyond how to play chess. Then he saw the two get bored of that, so they decided to watch their TV.

The first thing that was on was the news. The anchorman was covering a story about a seven-year-old girl that was brutally murdered in an alleyway. _"The murderer has not yet been caught, the NPA is currently trying to identify and capture him. As for the victim, police were able to identify her as Kimiko Sakamoto,"_ a picture of the girl before her murder popped up._ "and police found her body thrown in a dumpster on 5the Avenue downtown."_ Both Beyond and Raito were totally, 100% focused on what the man was saying, especially when he mentioned the NPA. _"The NPA has just recently found a lead, and they fear the murderer will attack again, and they are going to investigate into that. In other news..."_ and he continued onto another story.

Raito looked at Beyond, _"I guess that's the case we're working on with Dad. It sounds like a good challenge to me. What do you think?"_ At this, L's eyes widened and his jaw just dropped. 'The case we're working on with Dad?'? What the freak! The...? The kids are working with the _NPA_? On a _case_? A _murder_ case! _Seriously!_

He watched Beyond turn his head towards his 'sister' and smile, _"It sounds like an interesting challenge. I can't wait."_

L wrote down another wrong of Backup's on his list, still in shock:

**_Working on a case without my permission_**

* * *

**So that's that. Hope you liked it. This chapter was kinda short, wasn't it? Not much happened. The only thing significant was that L found out about the kids joining with the NPA. Not much...**


	11. Not About to Leave You

**Last chapter was really fun to write! I hope this chapter is just as fun!**

**BTW, the Japanese kanji in last chapter translates to:**

**Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world, Red and yellow; Black and white, They are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world**

**The symbolism behind the use if that song represents the fact that Beyond found his inner child by going to school. The statement that probably proves that the most is one of Raito's thoughts, saying how _'Beyond was now acting his age'_ **

**And I'm including that in most the rest of the chapters, you'll understand why in an upcoming chapter, I'm just not sure which one it'll be.**

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 10**

* * *

/

**ただの口は知恵を熟考しなければならない。そして、彼の舌は判断を宣言しなければならない。祝福が誘惑に耐えうる彼です。一度彼はテストされてかれらのために、彼はいのちの冠を受けなければならない。ああ主は、火の神、慈悲を持っています。ああ、なんて神聖な、どのように穏やかな****;****人信じるどのように快適なこのヴァージン****;****どのように寛大な。ああ、なんて神聖な、どのように穏やかな、どのように寛大な、どのように快適な、ああピュアリリー。**

/

* * *

Today is Thursday. And today... - wait, we're getting a little ahead of ourselves aren't we? You all, or course, know what happened on Monday. Beyond's first day ever at a school and L watches and listens to the family through the cameras and wiretaps. Also, L sees Raito and Beyond watch the news, and there's a story about a murder case the NPA is trying to solve – which they will work on on Saturday and Sunday.

Tuesday, Beyond and Raito went to school again. Beyond was just as happy, and Raito watched him, very happy for him. Though, Beyond _does_ get a strange feeling when they're walking to and from school. He wonders if he should be worried. When they came home, Beyond finally decided on the color of his room. Gold. Sachiko then went out to get buckets of paint at Lowe's. The brother and sister were so excited for that.

Wednesday, the room was painted. The mother and children all painted the room together, with the radio singing _'Hey Soul Sister'_ by _Train_. Raito recognized the song, and took Beyond's hands in hers and they started dancing to the upbeat rhythm of the music. Both children kept laughing, as they found that they liked dancing. L stared at this, totally disgusted. He added this situation to the punishment list for Beyond as they started to dance to _'Why Can't We Be Friends?'_ by _War_.

Okay, now we're all up to date. Thursday. This day won't just be made into a summary like the last three days, this one will be more lengthy. Let's begin:

**Bandmaster Academy – Lunch Time:**

The group of four, Beyond, Misa, Raito, and Mikami, were all sitting together at the same lunch table, the obsessive Raito-lover of the group kept going on about how his and Raito's wedding would be, while the girl he was obsessing over remained indifferent, "I would have Beyond as my best man, for sure. And Raito could have all the money she needed to buy her dress. I'm sure you'd look just beautiful in anything, sweetie."

When the word 'sweetie' came out of Mikami's mouth, Raito's movements paused, and she slowly looked up at Mikami. Her eyes clearly conveyed the message, _You gotta be kidding me..._ Beyond looked too, a little worried for Mikami's sanity, but he just kept his mouth shut and listened without interrupting. Raito just kept staring at the boy, jaw dropping more and more every second as his words became more and more unbelievable.

Misa, however, glared angrily at Raito and Beyond.

**Bandmaster Academy – Recess:**

Quiet Beyond, insane Mikami, bored Raito, and mysteriously angry Misa all started to play a round of school-kid 20 questions, all sitting under the familiarly shady tree. It was not only a fun game to play, but it also really helped Beyond learn who everyone in his class was, since they pretended to be other students.

Misa seemed to want no part in playing, but the other three just figured that she was upset about something completely irrelevant. And so they just ignored her and continued playing. Not the nicest or friendliest thing in the world to do, but she never treated any of them like her friends. So, why bother?

"Your turn, Beyond." said Raito.

Beyond looked up as he started to think of who he could be. "Hmm... Okay, I got one. Go."

Mikami asked, "Are you a boy or a girl?"

"Boy." he answered.

"You're in our grade, right?" Raito asked.

Beyond nodded, "Right."

"Are your parents still alive?"

"Yes."

"Does your name begin with an 'O'?"

"Nope."

"Are you tall or short?"

"Fairly tall for my age. Taller than average, I'd say."

"Hmm... Do you have braces?"

"No."

"Were you born in Japan?"

"Yes."

"Do you wear glasses?" asked Raito.

"Yes." he smiled.

Before Mikami could think of another question, Raito asked, "Are you obsessed with anything and everything that has to do with _me_?"

Beyond started laughing, "Yes!"

Raito pointed at Beyond in excitement, "You're Mikami!" she laughed too now.

"Yup!" and Raito and Beyond shared a good laugh. Buy Mikami was slightly confused about the situation.

"I'm obsessed?" he tilted his head, his face looking sad.

Raito knew exactly what would cheer him up, "No Mikami, I don't think your true and undying love for me is unhealthy at all." Beyond laughed.

Then, in the midst of their fun game, two kids in their grade - Kyomi and Haru - came up. "Hey," said Kyomi, and everyone looked up, even Misa, "we were wondering if we could talk to Beyond and Mikami. It'll only be a second." said boys nodded.

"Yeah sure," they stood up, and Haru and Kyomi lead them away from Raito and Misa for a minute.

Raito and Misa were left alone, the blonde angry, and the brunette oblivious. Suddenly, Misa stood up, and walked in front of Raito. Her head was down, and her bangs were covering her eyes. Raito looked up, but Misa just stood firm, like a stone wall. "Yes?" Raito questioned, but received no reply in return. "Misa? You okay?" she pried as she stood up.

A moment of silence. Nothing but the sound of kids laughing as they were on the playground. But not a word was spoken between the two girls. "Misa?" she asked again. Her result was the same as before. Nothing.

Misa slowly looked up to meet Raito's eyes. And man, She. Looked._ Mad._ But about what? A little scared, Raito leaned back slightly.

Misa finally spoke, but barely audible, "I'm out."

Raito's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "You're out?"

"I'm not going to be friends with you, Mikami, or Beyond anymore."

Raito put her hand on Misa's forearm, trying to calm her down, "Misa, if you're upset about something, please tell me. We can work it out together." Misa then roughly pushed the brunette's arm away, so rough that it actually hurt Raito.

"The only way we'd be able to work it out, is if we make things the way they used to be again. Just you, me, and Mikami. That was fun for me. But now that _he's_ here, everyone seems to be forgetting about me! None of this is fair!"

"Misa, what do you have against Beyond? Why is he such a pain for you?" Raito asked, getting a little loud.

Misa only got louder and complained more, "You're too busy with Beyond to pay attention to me! But even if you weren't, I'd still hate him!"

Raito was mad now, really mad, "And why's that?"

"That kid- no, that _thing_ is an ugly, unsocial, unhappy waste of life! He only hangs out with you! And he's so _clingy_ to you! It's gross! I've seen better looking homeless people than him! And he barely _blinks_! I bet he could stare at someone for _hours_ if he tried! Look, plain and simple, _he's a freak!_" Misa screamed.

Raito made a sad face because, well, because she _was_ sad. She'd thought Misa would've been more accepting to Beyond, but to listen to her reject and ridicule him was... just plain _awful_. And what made her even _more_ sad was the fact that Misa was rejecting _all_ of them, not just her brother.

The brunette then figured she had two choices:

Choice A) She could tell Misa to go away and never come back...or

Choice B) She could ditch Beyond and Mikami to stay Misa's friend.

Choice B was out of the question. She'd never betray her family, _never_.

That _is_ her brother, and _no one_ will tell her otherwise. So Raito, still sad and upset, looked straight into Misa's unforgiving, cold eyes without fear, and said, "Get lost, Misa." She said it very calmly, but also _very_ firmly. Misa then walked away from sight without a word, leaving Raito feeling one-fourth empty. She turned and sat down in the grass, her back against the tree trunk.

And then she did something she hadn't done in a long time, she cried. She didn't know why, since she had never liked Misa, but the tears just came to her eyes anyway. She then buried her face in her hands, trying to hide her crying from anyone who might glance her way. She didn't want anyone but Mikami and Beyond right now, they were the only ones who loved her and understood her anymore.

And they weren't there when she needed them the most. But thinking that only made her feel worse, and she actually cried harder. The young brunette felt so incredibly lonely, as if Mikami and Beyond were both gone forever, and she'd never see them again. She thought about that for so long, she actually started making herself believe it.

All the more reason to cry.

_'Where are you, Beyond?'_

_'Where's Teru?'_

These thoughts did nothing to stop or weaken her crying. Everything was silent, no noise of kids on the swings or slides or seesaws. It was completely silent other than the noise of her crying and her thoughts.

_'What do I do now?' _**(1)**

She even made herself believe that no one was on her side, and no one would comfort her. That's all she felt she needed now, comforting.

"Raito-kun?" she heard a voice above her ask, bringing her back to the harsh reality that was the school playground, recess time, Thursday. Raito really didn't want to look up at whoever was talking to her, but her desire for comfort seemed to force her head up.

Beyond and Mikami were standing there with half confused, half scared faces.

There were no words that needed to be said. Looking at Raito, Beyond remembered that certain promise he'd made to Raito a few days back. He could vividly remember Raito's happy voice, his eyes watery from crying, and her saying, _Just promise you'll do this for me the next time _I'm _crying, okay?_ He remembered how she'd comforted him after telling her about his abuse and mistreatment. He also remembered agreeing to her question.

The sitting brunette just looked so pitiful to him, he couldn't leave her like that; all alone and sorrowful.

Not when he assured her he wouldn't.

Beyond then decided to sit right next to her and put his arm around her. Mikami, following his example and did the same, but on Raito's other side. Beyond was comfortable enough with her to pat her back gently as her crying only continued, but Mikami didn't seem to have enough confidence to do so.

After a long time, probably several minutes later, Raito's crying stopped and her breathing was seized to hiccuping. "Raito, what happened?" Beyond said finally, now that it seemed his sister could now talk.

Raito frowned, her head still down, "Misa said all sorts of crap about you, Beyond, and then she said she wanted nothing to do with any of us." She lifted her head, her gaze switching to and from both boys every now and then. "I'm not upset that she's gone – I couldn't care less about that – it's just that I thought she wouldn't have any problems with Beyond being here."

Mikami felt horrible, and even wanted to kick Misa's ass for making Raito cry (and to tell you the truth, so did Beyond), but said hopefully to Raito, "But you still got us."

That made Raito smile, Beyond added, "Hey, Teru's right." He then joked, "What are you crying for anyways? You still have us, and we're not about to leave you, we're not going anywhere." At that, Raito's smile only widened.

The brunette wrapped her arms around both boys and hugged them closer, "You guys are the best, you know that?" Neither answered, and so she added, "I'm lucky to have you guys. Thanks for being so understanding."

Beyond pulled back, nodded truthfully, and said quietly, his face calm and neutral, "...That's what we're here for, Raito."

* * *

**What do you guys think? Is it good? Is it bad? Was this chapter overall pointless? Hmm... might not be...but, yeah, it probably was :D**

**(1) This is dialog from Light/Kira in the Death Note English dub anime. This particular dialog is from the final episode, 37, when Light is down on the ground thinking, 'Where are you, Misa? Where's Takada? What do I do now?' Don't ask why I added that, it just came to me.**


	12. Every Parent's Worst Fear

**This chapter will hopefully have some meaning and purpose. The only significant thing that happened last chapter was that Misa is now gone. Hurray! XD**

**The Japanese in the last chapter translates into:**

_**The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom; And his tongue shall declare the decision. Blessed is he who suffers temptation. Since he, with approval, shall receive the crown of life. Lord, fire divine, have mercy. Oh how holy, how serene, how kind, how pleasant. Oh Lily of Chastity!**_

**The next set of Japanese will hopefully be a little smaller. I don't know. But... enjoy Chapter 11!**

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 11**

/

**友人が私たちの霊にはエレベーターが必要なときに向ける人です。私たちの友情は贈り物だと友人は、誰かが私たちに宝物です。友人は美しさ、喜び、そして優雅さと私たちの生活を満たす人です。そして、我々はより良く、幸せな場所に住んで全世界になります。**

/

Friday came and went, and nothing totally significant happened. At school, Raito got dirty looks from Misa in most of her classes. But since Beyond sat by Raito in every class, he was also in Misa's sight. They developed a game plan: Raito would ignore it, but Beyond would stare Misa down in the creepiest and scariest way possible. Misa would always try to win the staring contest, but would always have an epic fail from being too freaked out. Raito would always high-five him after she'd turn around. Exactly as they'd planned it. She simply got over what had happened, and actually felt like a big idiot for crying like she did.

Now it's the weekend. If you've been reading everything so far, you'll know that Beyond and Raito are to work with the NPA on a murder case on the weekends. This weekend will be their first two days on duty at the headquarters. Both children couldn't be more _excited_ for what they may experience... Excited? Yeah, right!

**Naomi and Raye's House:**

"I don't understand why you're doing this, Raye!" Naomi shouted.

Raye and Naomi were having another fight about money. "Look," said Raye, "I don't _like_ working for the kid, it's just that it pays really good. I get _three times_ the amount of money that I used to get in the FBI, and this is exactly what we need to get back on track with our bills."

Naomi wasn't buying it, "Raye, you're _spying_ on _children!_ What if they're one of Haru's friends?" Haru was Raye and Naomi's son, and he just so happened to go to Bandmaster Academy with Beyond and Raito. "Plus, I've _seen_ these people, they came into the store! They are _very_ nice people and seem to be a _very_ happy family! Have some decency and tell L to knock it off, or at least don't do his dirty work for him! Tell him to get someone else to do it!"

"Naomi, you don't understand, the money we're making because of this..."

And Haru's parents continued to loudly argue, and he had heard enough already. Haru was one of the shorter boys in his grade, but he was very known and liked. School was basicly a social thing to him, not an education thing, and his grades were proof of that. Haru had a mop of black hair, and light brown eyes.

But he was sick of the arguments his parents always had, it was just plain annoying. Almost as annoying as is one classmate, Misa Aname. Well, nothing on the face of the planet was more annoying than _that_ girl.

Anyways, he was downright tired of the constant fighting over money in the house. Haru was now upstairs packing his things, he decided to run away. A home should be filled his love and respect, not fighting and bickering. He wished he had someone to talk to about it, like a brother or sister. It wasn't fair, he had nobody.

And so, Haru landed in the bushes as he jumped out of his bedroom window. He walked out on the street, swearing to himself that he'd never look or come back to that house. He didn't want to be with anyone, he was ready to live life of his own. He could take care of himself!

Or so he thought...

**Saturday – 9:15 AM:**

The father and police chief of the Yagami family, Soichiro, was in the front seat of his car, driving to the NPA headquarters. It felt strange taking his kids into work with him, but he was also ready to put this particular murder case to an end, and take the SOB murderer to prison where he belonged. It was getting on everyone's nerves, not knowing what to do, or even where to _start_, or who did it. He glanced at his rear-view mirror, and saw his son and daughter sitting quietly in the backseats.

The two of them seemed nervous, but the police chief could understand why. His kids weren't stupid, they both knew the risks of joining the investigation. Recently, their mother seemed to remind them of those risks every time one of them turned around, but not that she _needed_ to. Soichiro mentally smiled, recalling how his wife had always worried for him when he was just starting out as a police officer.

The father glanced into his rear view again, this time seeing the lunches his lovely wife had packed for each of them. Inside, he felt a little bad for depriving his children of having a nice, fresh, lunch at home. But, unfortunately, all three of them would work until 5:00 that evening. He also noticed the shirt Beyond was wearing, it wasn't black, it was white. It had a cute and funny saying on it, 'Triple the Fun: World War Three'. That was a good thing, it meant he at least had clothes other than the ones he'd brought with him from England.

But still worried, the father glanced back at his kids, and said, "You two are awfully quiet back there. Nervous, huh?" He saw them nod in his rear view. "I was too on my first day."

Raito broke in, "What if we screw something up really badly?" She sounded scared, nervous, and worried, all at the same time. For her, that wasn't a very good combination.

The father shook his head sympathetically, "Raito, I'm sure you and Beyond will do well, since you two have such great minds."

They didn't answer to that, the two kids didn't even look at each other.

The father didn't want to leave the conversation ending like that, so he kept talking, "Look, I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but when you two first get there, Matsuda and I are going to show you two stations I've set up for you. We'll also give you the general information on our case. And I'm also sure I don't need to tell you this, but make sure you don't go telling your friends at school or around the neighborhood about the case. The things you may or may not have heard on the news was vague and less important information that we were able to distribute to the public. The information that will be given to you today is strictly confidential."

"We understand clearly, sir." said the raven-haired boy.

To everyone in the car's surprise, they were now in the NPA building's parking lot.

**The NPA Staff Office:**

"And this is where we have your offices." said Officer Yagami.

The two children looked on in amazement. The high-tech machines in the main office were incredible; the fingerprint scanners, the blood analyzers, and the DNA storage. It was all so fascinating and, as Beyond called it, interesting.

Matsuda was kinda on the kids' side of things too, since he was the younger and newest officer. Well, Beyond and Raito weren't exactly officers, since they didn't have special training, but they were more like detectives.

The youngest officer spoke to the children once they were both situated and ready to hear about the case. He read from the report files, "The first victim's name was Kimiko Sakamoto, age 7, Japanese, black hair, brown eyes, 52lbs in weight, 3ft 11in in height. Her body was found in an alleyway dumpster downtown on 5th Avenue, and her body was recovered from there and brought here since.

She was found by a female passerby named Noriko Kimura, and she has agreed to cooperate with us if we need her to. We have not yet brought her in for a detailed questioning, but, again, she should cooperate if we need her. And, of course, we suspect that this was murder, and we still have yet to find the murderer." Matsuda concluded. The police chief's children nodded, and they went to figure out how to find the SOB.

They all worked into the late afternoon.

**Burgham Road – 6:32PM:**

Haru Penber was now walking on his way out of a large city he passed by. The lights and sounds of excitement behind him, making the dark silence ahead of him eerie to think about.

He didn't feel as much enthusiasm about this whole running-away-from-home thing as he did before. It was scary to be out by himself, and it was also getting dark! He'd tried to find his way back home a few times, but he only traveled in circles, making him even more nervous per second. He thought he could surely find his way home soon if he needed to. And he wished he could have left his parents some sort of message, telling him where he might have went. But that destroyed the whole purpose of running away and virtually disappearing, it was so he could _not_ be found. He was nearly on the verge of tears when he heard something behind him.

The young Penber boy turned sharp in the direction of the noise, but his movement was interrupted by a staggering pain in the back of his head. He tried to fight it, but then he felt himself fall. He couldn't even scream for help, the pain was silencing him. And the pain, oh, the _pain._ Haru could feel the blood pouring out of head around the throbbing pain from the first hit. Haru Penber could only cry and pray for mercy.

He knew this could be the end.

Haru looked up at the face of his assaulter, but the face was hidden by the hood he was wearing. On the cold, hard ground, the boy watched through teary eyes as his attacker swung a baseball bat in his hands at Haru again.

And everything went black.

...

Haru Penber was beaten to death...

**The Police Station Entrance – 6:40:**

The two fiances, Raye Penber and Naomi Misora, ran to the front desk of the police department. They nearly fell on the freshly waxed floor trying to get to the front desk. Naomi was in tears, and proof that she had been crying before was evident on her face, her mascara was smeared down her cheeks. The couple were dressed in their relaxing clothes, and stuck out likes sore thumbs in the building full of professionals.

Raye and Naomi finally caught up to the front desk, both panting, as if they'd finished running eight marathons. "Sir, mam, what seems to be the problem?" asked the middle aged woman at the front desk.

"It's our son," Naomi rasped out through the panting, "we can't find him anywhere!"

then she doubled over, struggling to catch her breath.

"We think he might have been kidnapped, the window in his room was wide open when we looked there! And with that crazy child-killer out on the streets!" shouted Raye. "What are we supposed to do now!" he yelled, now balling his eyes out.

The receptionist only saw helplessness.

And she felt the deepest sympathy towards the parents.

**How did you guys like this chapter? A little inside info on Naomi and Raye's life, and I'll bet you didn't think that the Haru boy from last chapter would be their son, now did you? Ha-ha! I'm sneaky! ;D Review, if you don't mind!**


	13. We Failed

**Some cool stuff happened last chapter, I guess.**

**Anyways, the Japanese in the last chapter translates into:**

_**A friend is someone we turn to when our spirits need a lift. A friend is someone we treasure, for our friendship is a gift. A friend is someone who fills our lives with beauty, joy, and grace. And makes the whole world we live in, a better and happier place. **_

**Don't give me credit for the poem, I didn't write it, and I don't know who did. So, whoever you are who wrote this... good job, you're awesome! ;)**

**/**

**それは大変だ****...****しかし、私はそれに慣れるのにしようとしている****...****私はちょうどあなたは大丈夫やっていると思います。**

**/**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 12**

"So, you kids understand how it all works now?" Mogi asked. He was showing the brother and sister how to connect to the police files and data base from the computers.

"Yeah, thanks Mogi-san." Raito smiled. Mogi was so nice and helpful. He was quiet, but when he did speak, it was always with respect towards people. That was something she found to liked about people.

Meanwhile, across the hall, an officer from a lower floor came up to the police chief, Soichiro. "Chief Yagami, I apologize if I'm interrupting anything. There seems to be a man and a woman at the building's entrance, and the receptionist says they are claiming that their 10-year-old son has been kidnapped. They apparently have no idea where the child could've been taken to, so they came here." The officer then handed Mr. Yagami a folder he'd been carrying, "I asked the parents what the child's name was, then my unit retrieved this file."

Chief Yagami looked inside the file to see the boy's picture and his profile.

**Name:** Haru Penber

**Age:** 10

**Race:** Japanese

**Hair & Eye Color:** Black hair, Light Brown eyes

**Height & Weight: **4 Feet, 72 Pounds

**Parents:** Raye Penber & Naomi Misora

**Occupation:** Student

**Employer (School, if Student):** Bandmaster Academy – Elementary

Mr. Yagami was scared to death once he saw that the boy went to the same school as his own children. And he also felt deep sympathy for the parents. When he read their names, he instantly remembered seeing them at a few PTA meetings for the school. He had to talk to them, tell them that they would take their son's case and find him as soon as possible.

He excused himself from the officer who'd delivered the news, and walked down the hallway. He made his way to the elevator, hit the first floor button, then gathered his thoughts.

_'I have to assure them that we will find their son. Though, I do wonder who kidnapped him in the first place. Perhaps, God forbid, it was our child murderer. Oh Lord, with him on the loose and Haru missing, that could be the case. We'll have to release as much information about this to the public as possible. We have to find this kid.'_

The elevator door then opened, and the police chief instantly saw the couple, Raye and Naomi, crying together for their child. Soichiro couldn't begin to imagine what they were going through. He approached them, and both parents looked up at him.

"Did you find him?" Naomi asked so sadly that Soichiro's heart sank. He couldn't feel worse for the two.

He shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid we're stilling looking for you son now." Which was the truth, the unit that sent the file to him – Unit A – was now sending information about Haru's disappearance to the local new stations. Someone, somewhere has had to have seen him, anybody! Once it becomes a big enough problem, people will be keeping their eyes peeled for the boy's face. "Mr. Penber, Miss Misora, do you two have a time for questioning? It's not that we suspect you of anything, it's only standard procedure. If we _don't_ do it, we'll have problems with the state. Also, if you would rather stay here to get any new information we may find, we have blankets and pillows here. You can sleep in any room you prefer."

"Of course." Raye nodded, understanding. His fiance also understood perfectly, since she'd been in the FBI. And also because of the fact that not a lot changed between America's legal system when compared to Japan's. The crying couple stood up and followed Mr. Yagami to the elevator.

**Once Upstairs:**

The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened. "Follow me, please." said Soichiro, walking down the hallway, away from the room his kids were in.

He lead them to a more distant room, one with a desk with a computer, and two chairs on the other side. He sat down, and asked them to do the same. He logged into the computer, hearing Naomi sniffle her nose a few times. He then started a file uniquely for this particular case. Then he titled the one file 'Parents POV'.

Soichiro then looked up at the parents, then asked, "I know this questioning might be hard, but please bare with me. Alright, when did you first discover that your son was gone?"

Raye answered, "Naomi realized he was missing when she called him down for lunch and he didn't answer. So she went up to his room, but he wasn't there, and his window opened. And we just assumed the worst."

Chief Yagami entered in the information on the computer file. Once finished he asked, "Do you know of anyone who might have wanted to do this to Haru?"

Naomi answered, "No, we have no idea about anything. All we know is that he's not with us, and that there's a crazy child murderer on the streets." she began to sob from thinking of the horrible things that could've happened to her son. "We just want him back."

Soichiro was at a loss of words as he watched the mother and father grieve over their only child. The police chief mentally scolded himself for being so moved by the tears that ran down their faces and their red, puffy eyes. He felt that he had to leave the room.

"Excuse me," he said, quickly getting up and leaving. After he exited the room, he rubbed his eyes, then blinked away the tears. He was sad not only because of seeing the parents' sorrow, but because he imagined himself as Raye, and his wife as Naomi. And Haru would be one of, or both of, his children. Who knows? Bad things like this happen to good people. But in truth, it could honestly happen to anybody. That's what was most frightening.

"Chief Yagami," he heard a voice behind him call out. He turned and saw the same officer that had given him Haru's file. He remembered the officer had said that his unit was currently working on the missing boy's case. There must have been some sort of breakthrough in the case. Maybe they found him, and he was okay. Yeah, he was okay. Everything in Haru's world was okay. Right? The other officer spoke, "Chief Yagami, of course you know my unit has been working on this case for the past couple of hours. Uh, unfortunately," All of Soichiro's hopes for the boy's well being disappeared at the word 'unfortunately'. He continued, "our search party found the boy...but he's not okay."

Soichiro shook his head, "What do you mean?"

The other officer looked down at his feet, "The boy was found dead."

Soichiro walked around as the other officer just watched his reaction. "Oh my God." the police chief sighed. Soichiro ran a hand through his hair, knowing they had failed. They were too late. "Where did they find him?"

"Burgham Road, in the alley just outside of the busyness of the city...Look, this seems to be upsetting you, sir. You should take the rest of the day off-"

Soichiro pointing at him stopped him from going any further, "Don't tell me what to do. Do you understand me?" he glared.

The officer only raised his eyebrows and blinked at Chief Yagami, "...Yes sir." he said quietly, then just walked away.

The police chief now stood in the hallway alone as he looked back in the room where the dead boy's parents were waiting. He knew he had to tell them, there was absolutely no avoiding doing that. He only feared there reactions. The boy was only ten, his own childrens age. Now he gone.

He took a deep breath, and with shaking hands, he opened the door. He now heard the sniffling of the parents. "Sorry about that, another officer wanted to talk to me." he clarified as he sat back down.

"Was it about Haru?" Raye asked through a rasping voice.

The police chief looked up at the couple, and only stared before whispering, "Yes."

Both parents shot up from their seats, "Is he okay? Did they find him?" Naomi frantically asked.

Soichiro stood up with them, and sighed, looking down. He then looked at the young parents again. "...They found a body."

The young mother's eyes widened before she gasped, "No." she shuddered. "Oh God, please, no. Don't let him be dead." She felt back into her seat from shock. Raye, however, stayed standing.

"When did this happen?" Raye asked, not angry, just sad.

"I'm not completely sure," Soichiro started chocking up at hearing Naomi's muffled cries. "You'd have to ask the unit that was investigating this particular case. I would be more than happy to have someone show you where they are located. But," Soichiro's whole body started shaking a little, and he couldn't hold back the tears he would shed for the young couple. A tear rolled down his cheek before he said in a soft, shaking voice, "...you both have my deepest sympathy." Chief Yagami then turned to the door and opened it, "If you two would follow me, please." as he regained his composure.

With help from Raye, Naomi stood and they followed the police chief to the hallway. Chief Yagami disappeared for a moment before returning with a very young looking officer. "Matsuda," he spoke to the young man, "would you do me a huge favor and take these two down to the fifth unit, please." He asked him as if he was asking a small child for a favor.

"Sure." said Matsuda, and he nodded to the crying couple, "Follow me, please." And they disappeared down the hallway.

As Soichiro just stood there in the hallway, sniffling every now and then, he didn't notice the two heads of black hair and brown hair poking out of a door only 30ft away, watching him. The brother and sister looked at each other, then back at their dad.

Raito whispered into Beyond's ear, "Should we ask what's wrong?" then pulled back to wait for his reply, but he only shrugged.

The young brunette girl cautiously stepped out into the hallway, her father still not noticing her. She started to step towards him, and looked behind her to see Beyond right behind her. Together they stepped closer to their father, and once they got close enough, Raito had to find her voice before talking, "Daddy?"

Their father looked down to see his children looking up at him with big, curious, and worried eyes.

Soichiro had to switch back to 'Dad-Mode', and asked "What is it that you kids need?"

Beyond answered for his sister, "We just wanted to know why that man and that lady were crying."

* * *

**Interesting! Will Soichiro tell his kids the cold-blooded truth, or will he lie to his children to protect them? Let me know what you thought about this in a review! :D **


	14. How is the Boy?

**Last chapter seemed to take me forever to write. I finished it while in Florida visiting my niece, Isla! It seriously took me forever! I'm happy this one didn't take me as long! XD XD XD **

**The Japanese in the last chapter translates to: **

_**I know it's hard... I know it hurts... But I'm right here, and you don't have to be afraid anymore. **_

**The reason I used this was to somewhat symbolize that a higher, heavenly being (God, perhaps) is telling Haru it'll all be okay while he's being murdered.**

**Hope you enjoy! :)**

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 13 - (A/N: 13 already? Holy #*%!)**

/

**真の友人をホールド行かせていません。真の友人は一生の間に沿って一度ています。**

/

* * *

**With L:**

L tilted his head towards his computer, setting his fork down after finishing his cake, "...What do you suppose we should do about this? What I need to do is get to Backup as soon as possible. But, what to do?"

Watari stood behind L, facing him. He was tired of seeing L play cat and mouse games with these children. It was time for L to continue solving _real_ cases again. "Personally, L, I think you should leave the boy alone. He's in a much better environment, it's better for him to grow up with a family...Why is he this important to you all of a sudden? You let us do whatever horrible things you wanted us to do to him. Why the sudden change in personality?"

L ignored him, only thinking outloud to himself now. It was as if he never heard what Watari was telling him. "I think that the wisest thing to do would be rejoining the NPA. We both heard what they said on the monitors, the _children_ are being used as tools in the investigations. We have to act now, before they come to their senses and forbid the two from working with the police ever again. This might be our only chance, we must not wait any longer." Lawliet then continued typing on his laptop, seeming to have found a lead.

Watari couldn't believe it. The boy he had raised and had taken care of himself, the boy he loved and called his own son, seemed to be going insane right before his eyes.

Lawliet just wasn't Lawliet anymore.

* * *

**NPA Task Force Headquarters:**

_Soichiro had to switch back to 'Dad-Mode', and asked "What is it that you kids need?" _

_Beyond answered for his sister, "We just wanted to know why that man and that lady were crying."_

Soichiro crouched down to meet his children at eye-level. Raito slitted her eyes, as if doing so would let her see what her father was trying to hide from them. "Beyond, Raito," he started, "Do you know the boy at your school? The one named Haru Penber?"

His children nodded, "Yeah, of course," said Beyond, "He and Kyomi wanted to talk to Mikami and me about our history assignment on Thursday."

"Did something happen to him?" Raito inferred.

Soichiro sighed, "Well, that man and woman were Haru's mom and dad." not quiet answering his daughters question.

"But, why are they here?" Raito asked. "I know that Haru's dad is a police officer, but he doesn't work here. He's an FBI agent, and the FBI's American, so it doesn't add up."

The father answered, "Haru's parents are here because they thought that there son was kidnapped, they couldn't find him."

His childrens' eyes widened, "Is he okay?" "Did they find him?" "Where is he?" The questions were thrown at Soichiro like a tidal wave.

He put his hand up to silence his children, and sadly broke the news to them, "One of the units downstairs was working on finding him since his parents showed up here. The officer in charge of that particular unit just came to me a few minutes ago..." Soichiro took in a breath, this was truly the worst part of parenthood, and the one of the hardest things he's had to do; telling his younger children about death. "...He told me that the search party he sent...found Haru's body outside of a city near Tokyo."

Beyond and Raito froze on the spot. A _body_? As in, a _dead body_? Haru was _dead_? I mean, honestly, they never officially hung out with the kid, but he was still very funny and enjoyable to have around, and they liked him. Plus, he was one of their classmates! One of their classmates was dead!

Beyond shook his head, "A body? They found that poor kid's dead body?...What happened to him?"

"I'm not sure," answered the father, "but there's a possibility that Haru was murdered."

"Murdered?" Raito whispered.

"Beyond, Raito," the father looked so sorrowfully at his children, "I'm so sorry. I can't help but feel that this is my fault. When his parents came her, I actually recognized them from the meetings at your school. I should've formed my own team and told them it was a personal case, and we might have found him in time...I'm very sorry that you lost one of your friends, I truly am."

"Dad, you don't have to apologize." Beyond said in a tiny voice.

"Yeah," Raito added, "It's not your fault. I mean, no one could have predicted that this would happen. You don't need to be sorry."

Soichiro shook his head, "...I feel like I can't help but be sorry." There was a silence after that. No one had anymore to say. Beyond was deep in thought, mostly concerning Haru's parent's well being. Raito was mentally thinking about how they needed to buckle down and find the child killer. And Soichiro was still just as sorry.

They just stayed there for so long that they didn't notice Matsuda standing behind his boss. He could see the kid's faces. But why did they look so sad? And although he couldn't see the Chief's face, he could tell that his head was hanging down. "Uh, sir?" he asked, and the childrens' eyes looked up at his person, and the Chief stood up almost immediately, then turned to him. He noticed that his boss looked and seemed stressed about something. "Sir, is this a bad time?"

Chief Yagami answered quickly, "No, not at all, Matsuda. Is there something you need to tell me?" he asked.

The children were now listening too, curious. "Chief, while I was downstairs in the other unit, L called." Beyond and Raito's eyes tripled in size, their faces shocked. Matsuda continued, "And he's asked to speak with you."

"Raito-kun," Beyond whispered, not looking at her, and still very shocked. She knew that she did not need to answer him, the way he said her name was simply a call for help. To try and tell him it was okay, she held his arm in a protective manner.

But Beyond's mind was still racing wildly. _'What if L is going to try and talk Dad into un-adopting me? If that happens, I'll never see my family again! I'd hate that! To know what the outside world is like, to experience love, and kindness, and to know what a friend is, then loss it all? I'd rather die than go through that!'_

Soichiro was very irritated, what could L possibly want? The last time L came in contact with the NPA, he asked to be left alone. Perhaps he was done with whatever he had to do, but that still doesn't make L's behavior acceptable. Although, he _was_ more curious than anything to see how this would go.

He followed Matsuda, but told Raito and Beyond to stay where they were, saying that he'd be right back. And then he left them.

Once he saw that his father was out of earshot, Beyond found his voice, "Raito, what am I going to do? You heard what Matsuda-san said, L called! What if he found me, what if he knows that we both work here now? I don't wanna go back there, Raito! I'm too scared to live through that again-"

"Beyond!" Raito raised her voice, and successfully silenced her brother. She looked at him with determination in her chestnut eyes, and firmly grasped her brother's shoulders and said sternly, "Listen to me! I already told you, I'm not about to let that happen, _ever_! Do you hear me?" Beyond barely shook his head as she continued, "Look, Beyond, L can burn down our house, kill Mom and Dad, and torture me for the rest of my life...but I'll _never, ever_ let him take you away to that awful place! I simply _refuse_ to let that happen! As long as I live and breathe, I swear to you that I'll fight him off with my bare hands if I have to. You'll never have to live through that again, Beyond! I will be here for you always! Through thick and thin, good and bad, I will _always_ be on your side! Because you're my brother, and I love you too much to let you go somewhere only to suffer!...Do you understand?"

"Yes, Raito-kun." Beyond said, shaken by how his sister felt about their situation. But if what she said was true, that she'd do that for him, he'd do the same for her, if she ever needed him to.

* * *

**Downstairs Unit:**

Soichiro and Matsuda watched as the elevator doors opened, and they saw that everyone was gathered in one place, most likely around the telephone. And no one said a word at all. It was so silent that you could probably hear a pin drop. They entered the room, the Chief getting noticed as he made his way towards the phone. He heard one of the officers say as he was now standing at the table, looking down at the phone, "Go ahead and answer it, Chief." It sorta sounded like a dare.

And he did just that. Soichiro reached down, picked up the phone, held it to his ear, and said, "This is Chief Yagami speaking."

The voice on the other end was hidden with L's fancy voice-blocking machine. _"Good afternoon, Chief Yagami. I'm sure you know that this is L."_

"Yes, I know. Did you have something important you needed to tell me?" he asked, not wanting to waste time.

_"Actually, I do. I would like to rejoin the NPA, and continue helping you with cases...How does that sound to you, Yagami?"_

Soichiro furrowed his brows, "..._What_?...No!" he stressed. The other officers were now looking at Soichiro more curiously, and wondering why he was raising his voice. "You asked us to leave you alone because you said you were on a personal case. And now that you're back, you think everything is going to be fine with us? Hell no!" His voice was growing in volume as his speech lengthened. "Get lost, L, find some other office to work with!"

_"Mr. Yagami, I know that you're basically in a state of rage right now, but I have one more question."_

Soichiro sighed, "What's your question?"

L's tone of voice went serious/dark/mysterious, and frankly, it sounded _creepy_! _"How is the boy?"_ he asked. _"Is he misbehaving? Complaining? Sulking?"_ L just kept at it like it was an ordinary conversation. _"We would be more than happy to take him back if he's being a burden to you."_

Chief Yagami shook his head, completely lost, "L, I don't understand. What _boy _are you talking about?" he asked, not knowing if L was talking about he boy who was murdered only moments ago, or not.

He didn't give him a straightforward answer, and only said, _"I just wanted to let you know that the offer will always be on the table, Mr. Yagami."_ Then the line went dead, leaving the police chief very confused...

* * *

**Ohhh! Scary and Creepy L! Please review and tell me if you like this or not. I was disappointed because no one reviewed the last chapter, but let this time be different, let your voice be heard! Tell me about anything really, even if you have an obsession with pie. If you do, we share the same obsession! XD **


	15. English Laws

**Yes, it is official…. I'm back… for good. Promise.**

**Last chapter was pretty good, I guess, and SUSPENSFUL! I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope you all enjoy this one.**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not, but I don't own Death Note or its characters. These stories are simply written by a fan, for fans. Just thought I should mention that. **

**The Japanese featured in the last chapter translates to:**

_**Hold a true friend and do not let go. For a true friend comes once in a lifetime.**_

**Yeah, pretty short, but they're easier that way. **

**Alright, here goes nothing...**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 14**

You, as the reader, may be thinking, _'I wonder how the rest of the investigating went with the kids.'_

Ha-ha! Well, I'm glad you asked! You see, the author of this story, Namwen20, decided that the investigating would all be **BORING!** So she decided to leave it out. Sorry to disappoint any of you, but it really _was_ boring. All they did was try to make sense of everything that was going on around them. Not much, really, just soap-opera drama.

On Monday, at Bandmaster Academy, Beyond and Raito's homeroom teacher sadly informed her students that Haru was, quote, "hurt" by a "bad man", and that the "bad man" hurt him so much that Haru just couldn't take it anymore, and he left for Heaven. It was basically how you would explain death to a second grader, but the point got across to all the students, nonetheless. The teacher actually started crying about it, that's how upset she was. Beyond and Raito, or course, had to play stupid and replay their initial reactions for show. The rest of the day, and the next day, everyone was mourning. The school even held an assembly, and told students to ask their parents for money to donate to Haru's family, and also the NPA, since they were investigating the case.

As you can see, it wasn't really anything that I could write about for more than a paragraph, so…. Yeah. Now that I've given you the scoop, on with the **DAMN** story!

**The Yagami Residence – 8:30PM:**

Beyond was in his new bed, in his own room, but he was not sleeping. He was simply lying there, in his gold and silver themed room. His walls were painted gold, and his furniture was made of wood that was painted silver, and it was a very brilliant-looking color. Raito had found a few paintings at the store that he'd grown to like, and in total they were only three dollars, and they were all gold and silver, so it worked out well. His double bed was made of stainless steel with gold sheets and blankets. He liked it very much, but it wasn't the same as the bed he was used to, Raito's bed. He figured it was only _normal_ to feel that way, since sleep it a complicated thing sometimes.

Raito, he knew, was in bed as well, since they shared the same bedtime. They'd said their goodnights in their shared bathroom after brushing their teeth. He'd promised himself that he'd survive through the night, and so he forced himself to drift into sleep.

_Beyond could now see himself in his own bed, in his own room. It was dark, still nighttime. Why could he see himself? Was he dead? Was he killed by the same murderer as Haru?_

_Wait, what was that by the window? Something just moved. He glanced back down at his figure again, why wasn't he waking up? Looking back up at the window- whoa! How was there someone now standing there? He couldn't see the face, since it was too dark, but he would see a silhouette._

_The shadow stepped closer to his sleeping figure, and reached its hands toward him slowly. He tried screaming at the shadow to get away, but was silenced when it shook his sleeping self, and said in that familiar voice, "You fool, don't you remember the law in England? It's time to wake up and come back home now, Backup." Only one person called him that: Lawliet! Just as that entered his thoughts, the sun rose at an unnatural speed, showing L's smiling face. And the Beyond in the bed snapped his eyes open._

_A faint scream._

_The blackness._

Our good friend, Beyond, the _real_ one, opened his eyes in an instant. It took him a moment to remember where exactly he was. But once he did, his head turned to the window. It was closed. Thank God. It was only a dream, no it was a nightmare. A very horrible nightmare that could very easily become reality. The red-eyed boy knew he would feel a million times safer if he double-checked that the window was locked. And so he forced his weak and slow body out of bed, walked over to the window, and locked it until it quietly snapped, signaling its security.

Beyond looked at the digital clock on his dresser, and saw that it was now 10:12PM. _'So little happened in that dream. Even though it was scary, it only took __forever__.'_ thought the raven-haired boy. He turned his head left, seeing the bathroom door. Beyond knew he shouldn't, she was surely sleeping. But maybe he could silently slip into her bed next to her. He didn't want to seem like a creeper-brother, it's just that he felt much safer knowing that there was another pair of ears to hear something, if anything should happen.

….Maybe, he thought to himself, I'm just afraid of being alone.

Oh, who in the world was he trying to convince? _Maybe_ he was afraid of that? No, he was dead scared of being alone, and even more afraid of being abandoned by his family. He knew there was a fat chance of that happening, but it was just something that he couldn't seem to shake from his mind.

Enough thinking now, he just wanted to sleep. He stepped lightly to the door, cautiously and slowly opening it, even though he knew by now that it made no noise when it was opening and closing. He never bothered to close it from behind him.

He was now in the bathroom, and stopped to look at his reflection. He leaned closer, noticing that the dark circles he had under his eyes were beginning to fade away, since he was allowed to sleep now. And his dark circles were only noticeable when he was outside in the sunshine. He looked toward the door to Raito's room, and refocused himself on his main goal, leaving his reflection behind. He slowly opened it, only hearing a very faint click as he turned the handle.

The more he swung the door open, the more familiar did his surroundings become. He slowly entered, fully aware that sometimes the floors creaked, but only a little. As he peered into the room behind the door, he saw his sister's sleeping body, saw that she was facing opposite of him, and that her body was firmly lodged onto the one side of the bed, as if she was waiting and expecting him to come to her. He smiled. Even when unconscious, he thought, she was still such a caring girl.

Beyond now took his steps very lightly, almost tip-toeing, around the foot of her bed to get to the other side, the side he'd always slept on. As he now stood in front of where he usually slept, he watched her sleeping figure, trying his hardest not to wake her up. He still wasn't certain weather she was a heavy-sleeper or a light-sleeper, but to be safe, he assumed the latter.

He slowly lifted up the blanket, and slid himself next to her sleeping person. He quickly found his familiar comfortable spot. He yawned quietly as his eyes felt heavier. Beyond smiled, feeling accomplished that he succeeded in reaching his goal.

'_Everything went according to plan…'_

"Beyond?" he heard his sister's voice whisper, and his eyes instantly popped open.

'_Almost.'_ he mentally added.

She turned and faced him. "You know that you're supposed to be in your _own_ bed, right?" she teased, smiling, though she didn't know if he could see it in the dark or not.

"Yeah, I know that," he started nervously, "I'm sorry, it's just that I had a scary dream, I'll go back now. Sorry I woke you up, Raito." Then he started on his way out of the bed, planning on returning to his own. But he felt a hand on his arm, stopping him. He turned and saw his sister's face, well not really because it was dark, but he could hear her voice full of concern.

"You had a nightmare?" she asked. He nodded in reply. "You might feel better it you talk about it."

Without words, he agreed, and turned to face Raito, so they were both sitting with their legs crossed on the bed, facing each other.

"It was about L." Beyond admitted. Why was he so ashamed and embarrassed by this? Was he ashamed of the fear he felt towards L? Maybe so. He continued, "And I saw myself sleeping in my own bed, and then this dark shadow was near the window, so I assumed it had crawled through it. I couldn't see his face, since it was so dark, but I saw it come towards the bed where I was sleeping." he explained. "And when it was close enough, it put its hand on me and said, 'It's time to wake up and come back home, Backup.'" He purposely left out the part about the English law, since Raito didn't know about the birth certificate.

Raito eyebrows rose up high, "Did he always address you by your codename, or just in you dream?"

Beyond shook his head. "No, he never called me by my real name. Only Backup."

Raito sighed, then ran a hand through her hair, "Well… maybe you should just try going back to sleep and hope for the best. Plus, we have school tomorrow, and we should both be asleep right now."

Beyond nodded understandingly, and they both pulled themselves back into her bed, facing opposite of each other. They got into their comfortable places, and closed their eyes. Raito whispered, "Goodnight, Beyond."

"Goodnight, Raito-kun." He replied.

Beyond was now happy. He was in a nice warm bed, he was with his best friend/sister, and he was part of a family. A family that cared for him, and cared about his safety and happiness.

"I hope you only dream of good things now." He heard her whisper before he felt himself drift off.

And he did have a better dream, one where only good people were.

* * *

**Yeah that's all you get this time, sappy Raito and Beyond scenes. Blah, Blah, Blah. Anyways, I currently have 17 chapters on my laptop, but I have to type them onto my computer to submit to FanFiction. I'll do this as fast as possible, promise! ;) That should make for some happy readers, and it should make some reviews! Yay!**

**Those reviews are almost as good as pie to me! ….Almost…. (0.o)**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**And please have a heart and REVIEW! I know that fact that I've been gone so long has probably pissed some people off, but I AM BACK! XD**


	16. Eyes All Over

**Hey nothing really to say about this. I have no internet on my laptop, therefore I can't have it easy and e-mail anything onto the other computer (as a reviewer of mine so kindly suggested, but thank you for the suggestion, nonetheless). But this is on fan-fiction, so it's all good.**

**Stupid **_**Chobits**_** online watching! Gave my computer viruses, and I apparently have no anti-virus! Stupid viruses, I hate my laptop! Why is it such an ass-hat? DX**

**BTW, have any of you ever heard a song called "Requiem for a Dream"? It's EPIC!**

**You know what? Enough ranting, here's your chapter…. Wait, do you guys even read these things I put up here?**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 15 **** Holy Kami! 15!]**

If my math is correct, then the whole bad dream incident with Beyond happened on a Wednesday… Hmm… Then I think I'll make this current story on a…..Saturday! Yeah, cause who doesn't love a good old-fashioned Saturday?

Okay, I think we'll have a little POV! (Point Of View) Yay!

But I'll be honest, I think I'll suck at POV, but I want to practice. So just bare with me, okay? Okay! Let's do this!

* * *

**The Yagami's Car: Saturday: Beyond's POV:**

Raito's been feeling ill lately, and I feel bad. Mom's put her in her bed, and she keeps telling Raito that she's not supposed to get out, unless it's to go to the bathroom, or course. Everyone else is fine, though, health-wise.

But I do wonder _how_ she got sick in the first place. It doesn't make any sense, unless it was one of our classmates. They could have been carrying the virus, and were immune to it, but since Raito isn't, her body reacts to the virus. She's not throwing up or anything gross like that, but her face does look a lot paler, it's lost all color. I don't like to look at her in her bed, it's too sad for me. Because in some of the books I've read, the sick people always die in their beds. Those are the books with sad ending. I don't like those books.

Raito is, however, running a fever. She tries to sit up, but then she says that her head feels funny and the room spins. There are tissues in a wastebasket by her bed, and it was almost full.

Poor Raito-kun, it must be awful to have to go through that. Literally. Mom keeps telling her that the only way to get out of her bed and to be healthy again, is to go through it. Not over it. Not around it. Only straight through.

I do think she'll manage, though. Raito's a very tough person, so an illness shouldn't do much damage to her.

I remember, as I sit in the backseat while Dad drives us to the NPA office, the conversation that I had with my sister right before we took off without her.

She said, after blowing her nose in a tissue, "Make sure you tell Mogi and Matsuda I said, 'Hi', and that I should be back by next week." Her voice was crackly and hoarse, from her more recent symptom, sore throat. The only cheerful life left in her was in her eyes, as her eyes always seemed to be smiling somehow.

"I promise, as long as you promise to get better soon. I don't want to have to walk to school by myself." I said.

My sister smiled a weak smile, and replied to me, "I promise I'll get better. But you just worry about putting that maniac behind bars, will ya?" She urges me towards the door the best she could from her bed.

"Of course I will, that's where he belongs." I said as I waved her goodbye, standing by her door.

She waved back, "Have fun." Smiling the best she could.

I brought back to reality by our car suddenly stopping. I could no longer feel the car's engine under my feet, and once it stopped, my body felt strange without it.

I looked up, out my window.

We had reached our destination.

* * *

**The Yagami Residence: Raito's POV:**

Ugh. I hate this. Being sick, I mean. It's so gross, you just want to take a shower and get rid of the congestion, but you know that I'll do you no good, even it the shower's about to scald you skin. It's even worse when you're bedridden. Your own room, your own sanctuary, becomes the place where you really don't want to be.

I'd taken a nap right after Dad and Beyond left for work. I'm not sure exactly what time it was when they'd left, but I assume it was about an hour ago. I tried sitting up, and to my surprise, my head felt a lot better. Not completely normal, but much better than what it was and the room wasn't spinning anymore. Mom would be mad it I left my room, so I guess I'll do something in here to keep myself busy.

I got out of my bed, slowly, and looked through my drawers. Clothes… and everything was in place. I went to my vanity. Every comb, picture, and mirror was in place. I saw that there was obviously nothing to clean. Well, let's try the closet, shall we? I opened my closet door and saw that there were my winter clothes hanging up from when they well are to be needed soon. There was also a bit of clutter on the bottom of my closet, so I did what I do best, I organized it.

It was really just a small pile of old book and movies about American, German, and Japanese wars, mostly WWII. I made those all a little neater-looking.

Then, something happened that I will not soon forget. The fact that I saw this changed the course of my life dramatically. In the corner of my eyes, a small green light was flashing. Curious, I turned my head towards the light. The object was small and black, with a green light that flashed from on to off every now and then, and it reminded me of a firefly.

I didn't think about it twice, I simply did what I did. I picked it up and brought it closer to my face, as to observe it closer. There was a small piece of glass, and it reminded me of a camera's lens. And when I thought of that, it all came together in my head, and I instantly panicked. In my state of shock, I quickly threw down the small object, slammed my closet door shut, and threw myself onto the bed, and pulled my whole head under the covers, despite my illness.

My heart was racing; I couldn't believe what I'd just seen.

A camera. Someone bugged our house. Someone was watching our every move.

'…_Oh. My. __God__.'_

* * *

**Unknown Location: L's POV:**

I couldn't believe my eyes. She found one. Miss Yagami Raito, the smartest 10-year-old girl in Japan, the girl I've come to pretty much _love_, found one of my cameras. This has _never_ happened before.

As I recalled everything that happened, I suddenly remembered her shocked face. It was all so innocent though, it's not like she was _looking_ for cameras in her closet, it _just happened!_

Miss Raito will surely tell Backup, and I can't stop her from doing that at all! What could I possibly do? Show up at her door and politely ask her not to tell the person she trusts most? No! I can't do _anything_! And the simple fact that she knows that someone is watching her screws up my whole plan! My _entire_ plan!

But before acting on this, I must see what Backup's initial reaction is, and how they both act on the new knowledge. It is crucial that I watch his reaction very carefully.

These next few days are going to be one _hell_ of a ride.

* * *

**Wow, pretty short chapter, but I'm trying. **

…**Hope you enjoyed!**

**:)**


	17. Urgent Evacuation!

**Enjoy and review, that is… if you don't hate me for updating late… again.**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 16**

**The Yagami Residence – Sunday – 8:30PM:**

Beyond and Soichiro arrived home from the NPA office, and as they walked in the door, the aroma of dinner filled their noses. The mother was in the kitchen finishing what left she had to cook. Beyond and his father entered the kitchen and greeted her. "Hi Mom!" said Beyond.

"Welcome home, dear," she smiled. "Raito was still asleep the last time I check up on her, so don't bother her if she's still sleeping, okay?"

"Okay," then he went upstairs to his room, racing up the stairs. When he opened his door, he was surprised to find a familiar, puffy-eyed, sad-looking brunette sitting in his well-made bed. He heard a sniffling sound when he went up to her and sat on the bed next to her.

"Raito-kun? What's wrong? Were you crying?" he asked.

The brunette only nodded, not making a sound.

"Why? What's wrong?"

She made an awful face, and tried her best to say softly while she cried. "I don't know if they're listening here too…" To her brother, she seemed paranoid. As if she just watched someone get killed. "I think there may be more throughout the house." She shook her head, the tears slowly crawling back.

"More _what_ throughout the house?"

She gestured for him to angle his head so she could whisper in his ear. She cupped her hands on each of her cheeks. "I found a bug in my closet."

"A bug?" he whispered back.

"You know, a little camera." She rasped out.

The young boy's face went completely paper white. _'Only L.'_ he thought, _'Only L has enough power and money to be able to pull that off. No one else, not even world leaders can do that. It's L, surely. This isn't anyone else. Only L. L! He's been watching us! All of us! There's no way to stop this…'_ his thoughts raced on.

Beyond looked up at his baby sister, he'd reached a decision on what they'd _have_ to do. There _was_ no escaping it, except for… "We have to leave." The raven declared.

Raito was confusing and still scared, to say the least "...W-What? Leave? And go _where_?"

Her brother shook his head, "I…I don't know, Raito."

"Wait a minute," she said. "Why in the world do we have to leave home in the first place?"

Beyond looked at her very seriously and stated, whispering, "The person who's watching us is L. I've seen him so this before; place cameras in people's homes, and no one that he's watched ever suspected anything. They never found one camera, ever. But L is the only one out there in the whole world who could get away with doing this. He's more of a criminal than half of the people he puts behind bars. Raito, we need to get away from his house. We have to get as far away as we can as soon as possible."

"Beyond, are you insane?" she whispered harshly. "There's a crazy child murderer out there on the streets, and you want us to run away together? I don't think I can do that, Beyond. I don't think I'm strong to go through that. Besides," she added, "I'm still sick."

"But you won't be alone." He retorted. "I'll be there every day for you, more especially now that you're sick. I promise you, Raito, not as Beyond Birthday or Beyond Yagami, but as you brother, that you _will_ be taken care of. I want you to be able to trust me in this."

"...This is crazy." She shook her head, talking more to herself. "…Well…what about Mom and Dad, huh? You're just going to let them stay here and let L watch them? And another thought, you think they'll be okay with this? No way! This plan isn't fair to anyone, Beyond."

"I know that. But I just know that this is something we need to do. Please, Raito, please consider this. This _is_ an option."

His little sister sighed, "….I'll think about it… honestly." She got up from his bed and headed towards the bathroom, "I'm supposed to be asleep anyways." She used the path through the bathroom to get to her room.

**With L:**

L was downright frustrated! He knew Miss Raito had found a camera, and he know that she figured out what it was. He knew she was a smart girl, and he honestly respected her for it. But when Backup showed up at her house, he watched Miss Raito talk to him about what she'd found. And now that Backup know about the cameras, he'll surely figure out it's him, L.

And this ruined his _whole plan_. And it was all Miss Raito's fault! He looked at the large picture of her that he'd printed out and put on his wall.

'_Miss Raito,'_ L swooned as he touched his fingers on the image of her face, _'Why must you do this to me? And to think, even after you've done this to me, I still admire, honor, respect, and love you so much. How? How can I feel this much for you, after all you've done to kill this investigation? Maybe I'm just a stupid idiot for loving you….'_

L sighed, and walked away from her picture, and looked down at his feet, depressed. "You will surely be the death of me, Miss Raito… One way or another, you will be the death of me." And the fourteen-year-old raven turned off his monitor, and decided to get some sleep for a few hours, not even caring that he saw the kids whispered to themselves. L just didn't care right now.

**The Yagami Residence – Sunday – 11:38PM:**

Beyond Birthday was sleeping in his bed, sound asleep. He'd already told his parents goodnight, and also his little sister. She didn't say anything back to him, just looked at him until he left the room. Raito didn't have an angry face in, it was more like…. a sad or depressed face. But maybe she just looked like that because she was still a little sick.

In the bathroom stood Raito, the bathroom light was off. Total darkness. She headed towards her brother's room, silently opened the door, and walked to his bed. Raito saw that he was asleep, but she shook his figure, trying to wake him up. "Beyond," she whispered.

His eyes slowly opened, revealing the red orbs. He looked up at his sister, "What?" came his slurred the tired voice.

"You were right," she said, and his eyes found her face, listening. "You were right from the beginning; we need to get out of here. And I think we should leave right now. I can't stand having someone's eyes on me while I'm trying to sleep."

The red-eyed boy threw his blankets off of himself, suddenly filled with energy, suddenly awake. He stood by his sister, "Are you sure that's what you want to do? Because once we're gone, there may be no coming back," he reminded her.

Raito nodded, "I know, and I've thought about that…..but I don't want to live here knowing that I'm being watched by someone I've never met or anyone else… We should pack up now, Beyond."

"Alright." Beyond sprang up into action, and grabbed his backpack, turned it upside so that all of his school books, pencils, and notebooks fell onto his floor. He went into his drawers, and got two pairs of pants, two shirts, and a handful of underpants. Raito only watched him, until he started towards the bathroom, and entered her room, she followed.

They were in her room, and in the dark, he handed her his backpack and told her to pack clothes, "but only what's necessary." Beyond added.

"Okay," she replied. The brunette girl trotted to her dresser drawer, opened them, and grabbed two long-sleeved shirt, and two short-sleeved ones, two pairs of jeans, and a handful of underpants. "I'm done packing." The girl turned around to see her older brother in her closet. "What are you doing?" the brunette asked.

The raven pulled out a winter jacket for his sister. "Here, nighttime can be cold, and I don't want you to suffer any more than you have to."

"Wait, I have a better idea." She set down the backpack, and crouched down to look around her closet floor. A moment later, she pulled out a large, folded up blanket. "Only one person can use a jacket, but both of us can use this to stay warm if we need to."

"Good plan, but will it fit in the bag?" the boy asked.

Raito shrugged, "Probably not, but I'll just carry it. It's only a blanket, it's not heavy." And she tucked the blanket under her arm.

"Okay…. Are we ready?" asked Beyond.

"Wait, won't we need money?"

Beyond sighed. "Yeah," He ran a hand through his hand, "but I don't have any. Do you?"

Raito thought for a moment, "Um…." Her eyes lit up, "Oh! I do have a stash of money in my old music box, but I don't know exactly how much there is."

"Go for it," he said. "Anything you have can be useful for us to buy food." The brunette then went to her vanity, quickly opened the broken and silent music box, and took out same money. She counted it in the dim moonlight.

She finished counting. "1600 Yen."

"That's fine. Put it in your pocket," and his sister did as told. "Is that all we need?"

Raito nodded, "I think so," as she looked around her room, knowing she might never see this room again. There were so many memories in this room. Playing with her stuffed animals as a younger child, having sleepover, playing board game with her mom and dad. Those were all such happy memories, and no more would ever be made again in this house.

Everything would come to a fatal halt.

And, as Beyond gestured for her to follow him to his room, she thought of when her, Beyond, and their mom painted the walls gold on that sunny day. How her brother was dancing with her to the songs on the radio with a big smile on his face and laughing so happily. And how, when the furniture was all moved to his room, he jumped onto his bed like a little kid, and such great happiness evident on his face.

The joyful memories with Beyond were only beginning, and now there wouldn't be anymore of that. Now in this house.

Raito especially felt like crying when Beyond gently pushed her to follow him out of his window. And finally, as she saw his room for the last instant, a single tear fell from her face.

* * *

**(1. 1600 Yen converts to about 20 US dollars.**

**OMG! The kids are gone! They're on the loose, just like the crazed child killer! What will happen? This is bad! D:**

**BTW, I feel that the part where Raito and Beyond were dancing was so DUMB! I apologize for the stupid scene.**

**Please REVIEW!**


	18. The Unavoidable is Here

**This is Chapter 17! Oh my Goodness! This is crazy! This story is intoxicating my brain! But if you guys like it, it's all worth it.**

**Also, check out ****JiffyPeanutButterGirl****'s work, she is my bestest friend EVER! If you love me, you should love her too!**

**Oh and I got my braces taken off yesterday! (July 18, 2011) My gums are bleeding profusely and they are swollen so bad, but it's worth not being a metal-mouth anymore! **

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 17**

* * *

**The Yagami Residence – Monday – 7:00AM:**

Sachiko Yagami walked through the hallway in her pajamas, her pink robe over top of them. She just woke up, and was going to wake up her kids to they could get ready for school. She walked up to Beyond's door, opened it, but he wasn't there in bed. Everything in the room was clean and neat except for the bed, the red sheets were messy.

Now, the fact that her son wasn't in his own bed didn't surprise or worry the mother in the slightest. Beyond had a habit of sleeping with Raito in her bed, and she knew that. The mother only smiled to herself as she walked the short way to her young daughter's bedroom door. She opened it, and found her daughter's bed in the same condition as Beyond's: Empty.

Panicked, she ran down the stairs and searched the whole house, and tears involuntarily ran down her face now. They weren't in the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, she even checked the basement, but Beyond and Raito weren't _anywhere_!

"**SOICHIRO!****"** she screamed for her husband as she ran back up the stairs. **"Soichiro!"** Her husband then came up to her and tried to comfort her, since he had no idea why she was in such a panic.

"Honey, calm down, you'll scare the children." He hushed.

"The children _aren't here,_ Soichiro! I don't know where they are! It's like they've disappeared!"

The father's eyes then got bigger as his brain made the connection, but he had to see it for himself. Soichiro left wife and ran for his childrens' bedroom doors and swung them open again, calling, "Beyond! Raito!" but there were no little voices to answer him.

Then the father went to his own room and dialed 911, his wife was sitting at the stairs crying for her young and beloved children. The other line quickly picked up, "Yes, my name is Soichiro Yagami. I'm the Chief Superintendent of the Japanese NPA, and I need to report that my two young children are missing… Yes….." He took a deep breath as he tried not to cry. "There names are Raito Yagami and Beyond Yagami."

* * *

**With L:**

I, as the author, am just going to come out and say this. L wasn't taking it very well either. His reaction resembled L's reaction in the anime, when L found out through a Kira video that Shinigami were real. Yeah, I'm sure you remember it; he screamed, and then fell out of his chair.

"_**AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"**_ he screamed hysterically as he ran through hotel room without direction, his arm flailing everywhere, super crazy. He found his computer chair, then screamed in his monitor with the images of the Yagami house on them, _**"They're GONE!"**_ He watched the mother, Sachiko, crying for a few seconds. Then the father hung up the phone, and sat down beside her and comforted his wife.

The fourteen-year-old put his hands in his hair. _'This is entirely my fault.'_ L's eyes widened as he came to the horrible realization. _'__I__ had the cameras installed, __I__ didn't insure that they wouldn't be found, and __I__ made that poor girl fear for her security and privacy! Oh, __Raito__! I'm __so sorry__ I did this to you!'_

Then L ran to the picture of her on his wall, and put his hands on her smiling face, "I'm so sorry, Raito-kun! I'm so sorry I put you through all that fear and pain! I promise I'll make this all better!"

And L promised to keep that promise.

He'd make everything better.

L kissed the image of her cheek before he went to a safe that he rarely thought about opening. It was a safe with a gun in it, and ammunition. L punched in the combination, opened up the door, and took out his favorite gun, a Viper 9mm black Revolver, from the safe. He loaded the 6 rounds in the flip-out cylinder, then put the small but powerful gun in the waistband of his jeans, so that the gun would stay there. Then L his white shirt over top of the pistol, so the part that was sticking out wouldn't show.

Then he walked out the door, but not without kissing the picture of Raito one last time.

L went out with the intentions of finding and eventually kissing the real Raito Yagami.

* * *

**In the Streets of Uptown Tokyo – Some Time in the Evening:**

Last night was pretty rough for Raito and Beyond, they'd walked around most of the night. They figured if they walked mostly at nighttime, they had a lesser chance of being caught of noticed by the police or a passerby.

They both slept at some point early that morning, around dawn. They slept in a dark and damp alleyway that smelled like rotting food. Raito still didn't seem completely better; she kept coughing. But she didn't look like a sick person just by looking at her face anymore, so her health _was_ improving.

Right now they were walking in a brightly lit part of the north side of Tokyo. People were absolutely _everywhere_, so Beyond and Raito had to hold onto each other so that they wouldn't get separated.

Soon, when they saw another alleyway outside of the busy city, Beyond said, "My feet are killing me," they were both barefoot, after all, "you wanna stop here for a while?"

In truth, Raito had been tired for a while, so they might as well rest. "Sure."

They both settled down onto the hard concrete ground and snuggled into their now dirty blanket. But from all the walking and exhaustion, they both soon fell into deep slumbers.

However, during that deep slumber, they had company. And that company didn't have their best interests at heart. He was a wanted man. Wanted for serial murder.

* * *

**Somewhere Else on the Streets of Tokyo:**

The crazy, raven-haired fourteen-year-old with the hidden gun on his back ran around even when it started hurting. He was cramping up inside, and his legs were starting to hurt and become numb too. But L kept running, he knew he just _had_ to. He knew he wouldn't be able to rescue his gorgeous young lady or get Beyond back if he didn't.

And, sure, he attracted a good bit of attention. With all the unnecessary grabbing of people's shirt collar, yelling in their faces, and frantically asking with wallet-sized picture of Raito and Beyond in his hand, "HAVE YOU SEEN THERE TWO KIDS?"

But no one really seemed to know or care. But even if they did know or care, they weren't just going to tell some random and crazy kid who so rudely asked them. So after getting absolutely nowhere when he asked several strangers, the teens ran around again in random directions to try finding the two children he felt he needed most.

He must have run down twelve or thirteen streets and turned countless corners. Then he saw something unusual. There was a tall man across the street with a dark green jacket on with the hood over his head. But there was something really weird going on, and L felt uneasy when he saw that he saw. The man wasn't just walking along the sidewalk right before nighttime, minding his own business. The strange man had two small children slumped and hanging limply over his broad shoulders.

L squinted his eyes at the distant man, trying to see who the small people were. He couldn't see faces since they were facing down, but he saw a head of thick black hair…. and the other…. has brown hair! It's Backup and Raito-chan! He could've just ran up to the stranger, took the little girl, and ran away with only her by his side. On the contrary, L decided against that idea. A) This guy is a known criminal and murderer. B) Truthfully, he still ultimately needed Backup.

So the raven teenager took the gun out of his waistband, and held it in his fashion he was trained to; like a _real_ police officer would; stand tall and firm, keep all you weight on you back foot, keep your aim and eyes on the suspect, watch their hands for any weapons, and for goodness sakes don't do anything stupid… like getting yourself killed.

L followed the suspect off the road and into an old warehouse way outside of the bright Tokyo city. There was a quiet echo of the loud city music, and there was a thick and haunting atmosphere about the place that L didn't like one bit. If he had a choice, he would choose not to be there, but there were some very special circumstances.

Not thinking more clearly, L took out his cell phone and speed-dialed Watari. He let it ring three times, then hung up. It was a secret code that they had come up with. Watari was now responsible for calling the police, tracking L's phone using GPS, and getting himself and the authorities to the tracked location as soon as possible.

Then L continued following. He stayed light on his feet and silent, and he managed to get closer without being seen at all. The teen had his pistol aimed at the suspect the whole time, ready to fire if necessary.

The dangerous suspect then went inside the warehouse, and L had to momentarily hide in nearby bushes when the man turned to see if anyone was following him. The man went inside without closing the door or double checking. L quietly hustled up to the door, trying to stay low to the ground and virtually invisible. The tall suspect then let the children down roughly, and they both fell to the dirt floor hard on their butts. The L's astonishment, their eyes were open, and Raito was crying, and the fact that he, the suspect, made Raito cry with fear made him incredibly furious at the man.

The suspect then took off his hood, revealing close-cropped brown hair, but that was all L could see. Then the suspect slowly pulled out a large silver knife, and Raito started whimpering and clutching to her brother. L's heart ached at the sight, and he could faintly hear the man say something like, "I never _did_ like children." and he laughed.

The crazed man put the knife to Raito's cheek. Beyond reacted by holding his sister closer and saying weakly, "Don't touch her….!" But he'd already cut her left cheek, blood dripping down her jaw and onto the ground. L was momentarily paralyzed.

He then put the knife to Beyond's neck, and that's when L jumped out and yelled at the top of his lungs, "**FREEZE!**" L didn't know his voice could be that loud, but the suspect and children both jumped as his voice echoed off the warehouse walls. Completely caught off guard, the suspect jumped to a stand, the sharp weapon in his hand. "**DROP THE KNIFE!**" It felt with a _clang_. "**PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD! GET ON THE GROUND!**" Again, the suspect cooperated without much of a fight, and L started to swiftly approach him, the gun still stiffly pointed right at him.

Hearing the police cars' screeching tires and loud sirens outside, and the sound of police car doors closing, L stopped. He kept the gun with him even when he took Raito's hand and led her out of the warehouse. L's heart beat faster from their first contact, even more so when Raito hugged and thanked her savior, oblivious of who it was. And she even started clinging to L and cried in his shoulder, some of her blood smearing onto his famous white shirt, but L was loving and shushed her crying away with kind and gentle words. "It's alright now. I'm here. Everything's going to be okay."

Raito's terrified brother wanted to scream and tell her that L was very dangerous and she should run away as quickly as possible, but the boy was so shaken that he couldn't find his voice. Raito ran to the police once she was outside, and L went back inside to get Backup, the police opened the warehouse door wider, following him to make an arrest on the suspect. The blue and red flashing lights flooded inside.

Beyond was so fearful of what had happened and of seeing L's face again. However, L only picked him up without a word, and he truly had no expression on his face. Aside from the swarm of police cars was a dark limousine. L walked toward it. Beyond's red eyes widened. We wanted to kick, scream, and run to his little sister. He'd thought getting adopted was his one way ticket out of that old lifestyle. He couldn't believe the nightmare was starting all over again.

L loaded Beyond into the car, but Beyond was so drained of energy from the previous adrenaline rush that he couldn't fight back like he wanted. The last thing he saw before L slammed the door shut was Raito sitting on the ambulance vehicle behind examined by the paramedics. For only a second did he see her brown eyes wander around. She was looking for him.

Up by the driver, Beyond heard L's voice say to the driver from outside the limo, "Watari, I'll be right back, I just want to say a few things to Raito-chan. Make sure Backup stays here." Watari nodded before L walked away. But inside, the old man felt that L was being ridiculous, and honestly wanted to unlock the doors and tell Beyond to run back to his family. However, Watari knew that if he did that, he would've been immediately fired, and L would most likely seek revenge and ruin his record so that he could never get a job again. Even though he knew it was the right thing to do, he just couldn't. He turned and said to "Backup", "Beyond…I'm sorry."

As L walked a couple short moment to relocate the ambulance and find little Raito sitting on the back, the door was opened as the paramedic was finishing up treating and bandaging her cut. He heard the male doctor say sweetly to her, "You're all done, Miss Yagami. I'm gonna go talk to the police officers and have them call your parents. I'll be right back." He handed her a small box of tissues before he walked away.

As L walked up to her, he heard her sniffle and saw the tears run down her face again. Something in his stomach twisted at that sight. She looked up at him before he sat down next to her. "You're that guy," was the only thing she could seem to make out in her tiny voice, she looked down at his shoulder, where her blood had marked it. L smiled nicely and nodded, patting her shoulder soothingly. Raito took a tissue and wiped her eyes. She continued in her cracking voice, "Thanks for saving me and my brother, Mister."

'_So she refers to him as "brother"? Odd….yet strangely I'm not at all bothered that she does that.'_ L thought, but on the outside he just smiled and nodded. He then put his arm farther, leaned his head and whispered in her ear, "You're welcome. But, as for your brother, I have some advice for you: Forget him." And before she could comprehend what he was talking about, he kissed her hair lovingly, then got up to retreat back to his ride. "Goodbye, Raito. I hoped we meet again someday,…my sweet angel."

The girl looked at him as he walked away and didn't look back at her. Forget her brother? And how did he know her name? Did the police tell him? And where was her brother, anyway? This guy must've known! She hopped from the ambulance car, dropped the tissue box, and tried to catch up to him. It was difficult to keep up through the maze of the dozen police cars, but she managed to keep an eye on the head of tangled black hair. She seemed to be following him in slow motion, and the spiraling police lights appeared to spin slower.

As she followed his black hair, she watched it slip away from sight. When she hurried around one of the police cars, she heard a car door slam shut and caught only a glimpse of a limo speeding away, the tires screeching as the vehicle left her in the dust. But since the world was in slow motion, she was only able for a split second to read the license plate number.

**35E-722G**

"35E-722G, 35E-722G," she repeated to herself, making sure she would remember it forever. That guy might have saved her and she might have been appreciative, that guy's way of talking confused her, and she also wanted to know why he was just _conveniently_ there with a loaded gun.

She turned to continue searching for her brother, but the man from the ambulance was there instead. "Sweetie," he said, "where have you been? You shouldn't be wandering around like that." He reached down and picked her up, and started carrying her back to the ambulance vehicle. "Good news, your Mommy and Daddy are on their way to come pick you up right now. They've been worried sick about you."

She said to him, now pretty angry, "Where's my brother?"

The doctor paused in his walked, "Brother? Sweetie, you don't _have_ a brother, the computer searcher proves it."

Raito started smacking the man's shoulder over and over again, and he practically dropped her to the ground. She was so frustrated as she kept hitting him harder and harder, and the tears started coming up again.

She stopped her attack and looked up at him with red eyes, her face wet from the tears again, "Don't tell me I don't have a brother! He's real! He does exist! His name is Beyond Birthday!" She fell to her knees on the hard concrete. Completely crying now, she hid her face in her hands and sobbed out the random little facts about her brother that she remembered. "He was born on the eleventh of February! He was an English orphan until my parents adopted him!" Her voice grew weaker as she continued, "I'm not going to let some stupid computer tell me who my family is…"

The doctor watched all of this, and honestly thought this little girl was just crazy and lonely and thought her imaginary brother was real and now missing. He turned to go back to his hospital on wheels and see if the girl's parents showed up yet.

Raito was left alone. Her face was wet, and her knees hurt. She lifted her head from her hands. "35E-722G… 35E-722G… 35E-722G."

Thunder in the clouds roared. It started to rain.

"…35E-722G…"

* * *

**OMG! The unthinkable happened! L got "his" Backup again! But guess who's determined to get her awesome brother back: RAITO! They should make a theme song for her! I'm thinking the next Chapter should be like an episode of Law and Order! I have a feeling that someone on the police force will interview her about what happened.**

**Please have a heart and REVIEW. I always like feedback, good or bad.**

**But seriously…please REVIEW. I'm really getting discouraged because I haven't gotten a new REVIEW in a long time, and I feel like you guys aren't reading this or liking it. Please review and tell me what you think.**


	19. Alex and Raito

**Nothing really to say about this one, except for the fact that the police interview between Matsuda and Raito is based on the way they do interviews on Law and Order: SVU (Special Victims Unit): Slowly and Dramatically addicting! Hope you like. REVIEW…. Pretty please.**

**BTW, I'm happy now because I got two new reviews that made me smile! **** I sincerely thank all of my readers and reviews for taking the time to read this or write a little something about my story. You are the BEST!**

**(And I'll also keep doing the Awesome-Sauce!)**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 18**

* * *

**Japanese NPA – Questioning Room – 8:12AM:**

Raito was brought in for questioning after she'd spent the sleepless night at her house. Her parents had come to the warehouse that horrible night, and the greeting was tearful and filled with hugs and kisses. But the parents immediately noticed that their son was gone, asked the police, but no one saw him except Raito. So as the police worked overnight to find the missing Beyond Birthday, Sachiko and Soichiro took their daughter home, happy to have at least one of their beloved children back.

Raito didn't catch a wink of sleep that night as she only say in Beyond's bed, hugging his pillow just to feel close to him. A month before, she lived her life without her brother, now she couldn't imagine living her life without him. She adapted to him, and built, tore up, and rebuilt her ways and life for him. Now all that building and rebuilding seemed to be for nothing and nobody.

Back in the questioning room, the brunette girl sat alone in the chair, her head resting in her crossed arms, which were sprawled out on the metal table in front of her. She was mentally and physically exhausted; not only from her near-death experience and her missing brother, but also from severe lack of sleep. Her and Beyond hadn't slept normal hours the two nights they were running away. There was an empty chair opposing her side of the uncomfortable metal table.

Matsuda was talking to Raito's parents, Aizawa, and Mogi, who were all deeply worried for both Yagami children. They all intended to listen in on Matsuda's and Raito's conversation with the room's intercom, and watch too using the one-sided mirror. Sachiko looked through the clear glass very anxiously, her fingers tightly folded together over her heart, worried sick for her Beyond and his well-being, and also concerned weather of not her Raito would mentally recover from the trauma of what she saw and felt. Having an insane stranger pull a knife out and put it at your throat could make the strongest person cringe.

Then the squeaky door opened. It was Matsuda-san. He was one of Raito's good friends, along with Aizawa and Mogi, who were also very friendly to her and Beyond when they worked with the NPA. Matsuda was dressed in his new police uniform, equip with gun and all. He'd significantly improved officer in a very short amount of time, and he was looking more professional and official than anyone could have imagined. Yes, his days as the 'servant cop' were now a distant memory, especially after his discovery on the old CTV tapes, that was back with the murder of Kimiko Sakamoto.

Matsuda had a cream-colored folder in his hand and set it down on the table, then sat himself down in the chair. "Raito-chan," he started even though he really didn't know how or where to start, and he was sad when she didn't respond at all to her own name. He spoke to her lowered head as gently and kindly as he could assuming she was awake, "I just want you to know that we are doing everything we can possibly do to find Beyond, but that's not much. So I need you to tell me everything that happened the night of the incident and the night before."

Raito looked up at him for the first time, and he inwardly gasped at how awful she looked. He'd only questioned the guilty parties in his cases; like murders and robbers, never the victims. Her skin a ghostly shade of white, a bloodstained gauze pad bandaged to her injured cheek, her eyes horribly bloodshot, and the skin under her eyes were red too, as if her tear ducts were overused and worn out. She started speaking after a while, "The night Beyond and I ran away, we climbed out of his bedroom window…. We took some money…and a blanket to keep us warm at night." She swallowed the very little moisture that was in her mouth before continuing, "We just had to keep walking…. We both figured that if we walked around at night, no one would find us or recognize us…. I carried our blanket around…..he carried the backpack with out clothes. We didn't know where we were going, but we had to go anyway."

Matsuda asked quietly, knowing he had to be sensitive and patient, "Why did you have to leave?"

"Because," she said hoarsely, suddenly horrified again by what she'd found that day they ran away. She whispered, her breath shaken as if about to cry, "There are cameras in my house, watching me."

Matsuda couldn't believe what he was hearing, "How long have they been watching you?"

"I don't know, but they're there…. Someone's been watching. I don't know who, and I really don't want to know who. I just want them out of my house."

"How do you know that cameras are in your house?" Matsuda asked.

"I found one in my closet." Her voice shook even more, but tears wouldn't flow. Matsuda guessed she must've run out of tears.

"Then what happened?"

She sniffed as she dug back into her memory. The events only happened yesterday, yet they seemed to have happened years ago. The memories were actually so traumatic that her brain tried to make her forget. "Well, we slept in a filthy and disgusting alleyway the next morning. We tried hiding behind some huge dumpsters, and we managed to stay hidden the whole time we slept….." she trailed off, remembering in full detail how hungry and uncomfortable she was.

Matsuda tried to keep her talking, "What happened after you two woke up?"

"We started walking again, and it was sometime in the evening when we realized we were in Tokyo. We knew it was Tokyo because of all the bright lights. We walked through huge crowds, everyone was taller than us….." she trailed off a little again, but caught herself. "Then our feet started to hurt, so we settled down again for the night in another alleyway. And after we fell asleep, that's when…he must have got us." She continued slowly, "I woke up hanging face down over a man's shoulder…firefighter style…. And when I looked over, Beyond was there too…." A very long pause as she remembered her precious brother. Tears remarkably came to her tired red eyes. "…..He looked at me and his eyes were so scared….. I could tell he was trying to hide his fear, to be strong for me… He couldn't hide it." She wiped her eyes. Her voice was shaky, "….Then the man took us to a warehouse, set us down on the ground…. He saw that we were both awake. He took out a knife, and that's when I held onto Beyond... I was so scared, and by that time I was crying really hard." The brunette girl sniffed away the wetness in her nose.

Raito went on at her own pace, telling him all she knew, "He took off his hood and said, 'I never did like children'….. And he _laughed_." Raito looked incredulously into Matsuda eyes. "How can anyone laugh at someone else's pain and fear?" Matsuda just shook his head in reply, showing that he had no answer to the question. She released a shaky sighed, "Then some teenager with a gun came in and saved us from being killed." She put her hands over her closed eyes. Not crying, just remembering in the silence how that brave and heroic teenager saved her life. She remembered what he'd shouted:

"_**FREEZE!"**_

"_**DROP THE KNIFE!'**_

"_**PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!"**_

"_**GET ON THE GROUND!"**_

Raito, at that time when he said those things, wanted to run to him and thank him a thousand times for saving her. "When I was being treated for my cut, the guy who saved us sat down by me. I thanked him for what he'd done, and then he told me to forget my brother... Then he kissed my head and walked away." She inwardly remembered the exact words… _'My sweet angel.'_

"Then what happened?"

"Well, I'd thought that was strange, so I got up and followed him. But there were so many police vehicles crowding the area that it was difficult to keep up. Then when I came to a clearing I heard a door close, and a limo drove away."

"Did you by any chance catch the vehicle's license plate number?" Matsuda asked, expecting her to say no.

She repeated from memory, like she was a machine, "35E-722G."

* * *

**Wammy's House – Winchester, England – Unknown Time:**

Beyond was scared, to put it lightly. In actuality, he was scared _shitless_. He wasn't in the infamous white-walled isolation room. L had picked out an even worse place for him to be. He was handcuffed, blindfolded, and strapped to a wooden chair. Why the blindfold and handcuffs? Beyond didn't know either. The room was pitch black, and Beyond felt sleepy. Was this where he was going to be for the rest of his life? Fed twice a day as usual in this place? Let out once a week while strangers bathe him while he's still handcuffed?

He just wanted to go home! To his _family_! See his sister, even just one last time! OH, how he missed her. He couldn't believe that she was crying the last time he'd her. The last time he'd ever see her again. He couldn't even do what brothers are supposed to do for their crying sisters; comfort them. He just wanted to be a good person. Not only to her, but to everyone. Well, everyone but L. Watari had apologized, so he wasn't a _complete_ enemy anymore. Beyond was still a little angry at him, but cuts and bruises heal. He wouldn't hold that over Watari's head since he wasn't to blame.

He missed his family so much. His mind wandered back to his first day of school. He and his sister were looking in the eighth grade reading books. In his mind, he could see them both pushing their desks together, then looking through the random pages, big grins on their faces. He smiled sadly at the distant memory. He then recollected a small poem on one of the pages they'd read together. "Lullaby" by Tom Waits. He remembered it word for word. And he remembered how Raito told him it reminded her of the tune from the mockingbird song.

He sang in the familiar tune that was not taught to him, but dwelled deep within his memory, just adding the new words, "If I die before you wake. Don't you cry, don't you ache. Nothing's ever yours to keep. Close your eyes, go to sleep."

'"_Nothing's ever yours to keep.'_ He pondered the line. _'I can relate to that.'_ No, Beyond mentally slapped himself. He didn't pity himself; there would be no pity party here. He just longed for his mother, father, and sister. He pictured her smiling face in his mind, the first walk home from school, folding his clothes with her when he first came to her house, holding and comforting her on the school playground while she cried.

'_Oh, Raito…sweet, sweet Raito. All the memories I've made with you are truly the best memories I have in this horrific nightmare called "Life".'_ He couldn't help but smile as a tear rolled down behind his blindfold and down his cheek. "Raito," he said out loud as if she were really there, "thank you for being my friend." He didn't care that there was probably a camera right in front of him. L, watching him.

He thought again of his friend and sister, Raito. Then Beyond thought of his first ever friend: A, Apprentice, L's original successor. The Wammy kids were never to reveal their real names amongst each other, only to L, Watari, or Roger, of course. They already knew everyone's real names.

Beyond met A when he was allowed his weekly one hour of fresh air. Letting Beyond have that privilege was never L's idea, but Watari found that it would be cruel to not do so. Therefore, L allowed it.

Beyond remembered the day they met.

* * *

**Flashback – Two Years Ago:**

_Once every week, B would be allowed to go outside of the building and was also allowed to play with the other children. He never did, though. At first, he would use this time to catch up on some much-needed sleep. One day, though, some jerky kid with blonde hair called M kicked him down off the bench he was sleeping on. That particular bench was his favorite. It was under a shady tree that kept the sun out of his tender eyes. Eyes that were almost always exposed to darkness or artificial light, not natural light._

"_I wanna sit there!" Beyond looked up at the boy from where he lay on the ground. He yawned, then groggily got up, and lay down on the bench again beside M. M, however, didn't want B there beside him. Now very angry, M planted his foot on the top of B's head and pushed B off the bench yet again. Just as B's tiny body landed painfully on the hard ground once again, right on top of his arm, someone else came to interrogate the rude blonde boy._

_It was another boy, a brunette….like Raito….. This boy, however, had light blue eyes….unlike Raito….her eyes were brown….. Anyways, brown-haired boy approached M as B clutched his arm, the one he landed on._

"_Hey," the brunette boy raised his voice, English accent and all, "M, what's your problem?"_

"_My problem, __A__, is that I just wanted to sit here, and this dumb successor wouldn't let me! I bet he thinks he's better than the rest of us…just like you do, __Apprentice__."_

_B almost fell asleep again on the ground, but he kept his red eyes open as he listened to their conversation. He's never heard of this nice A person, but he really hoped he would win the argument. A said to M, "M, I'm not about to fall for that. I saw what happened and I heard what you said." M glared at A as he continued, "But even so, if this successor really did tell you that you couldn't sit there, you have to respect his wishes. Not because he's a successor, but because he's a person just like you. And if you would have done the polite thing and asked, I'm sure he would have been happy to let you sit there while he took his nap." M didn't respond. He just walked away angrily. A waited until M was gone before he went to B. He helped him up, "You alright?"_

_B only nodded, "I'm just really tired." It was hard to keep his eyes from closing._

"_I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner. What's your alias and codename?" He asked like he was asking, 'What's your name?'_

"_B… It stands for Backup. What's yours?"_

"_A. That stands for Apprentice."_

_B smiled despite his weakness and want for sleep. "It's nice to meet you, A. Thanks for what you did."_

"_You're welcome. Go back to sleep, B. We successors aren't allowed much sleep, are we?" Apprentice then walked away. He kept a watchful and protecting eye out for his new acquiescence on the bench from afar._

…

_The next week, during his hour of fresh air, B was curious about where A was. Looking around for him, B found two older girls sitting in the grass, both crying. He didn't want to eavesdrop, but he listened to what they were saying anyway._

"_I can't believe A is dead!" B's eyes went wide. His heart shattered and ached._

"_I can't believe he knew how to kill himself! He's so young!" A committed suicide?_

"_You're right… When I was his age, I didn't even think about anything like that…. I didn't even know that suicide existed! I never knew that was a way to die!"_

"_Yeah… Being a successor must be really stressful. L really sets the bar pretty high, doesn't he?"_

_B went back to his holding place 30 minutes early. It was too crappy to be called 'a room'. He didn't cry, but he felt extremely sad and miserable. More so than usual. It just wasn't a good day. Now he was the real Apprentice now, not A._

_It turned out that whenever a resident of the Wammy House passed away, their name was revealed throughout the school and sometimes even to the general public. That all depended on how they died. A child's suicide was definitely on every local news channel and was even in the newspaper the day after it happened. "Young Orphan Boy Commits Suicide", that's what the article's title was. And it included and stated his real name many times; Alex Adams._

* * *

**End of Flashback:**

'_They really are so much alike,'_ Beyond thought, _'Alex and Raito are so much alike. They both show random and unasked-for acts of kindness to complete strangers…to me. I never did anything to deserve any of it, yet they both gave it without question…. Do I really deserve people like that? Is that why Raito was taken away from me, just as Alex was taken from me?'_

….He cried.

* * *

**Poor BB! And poor Raito! They seem so depressed and lost without each other, don't they? You could and might REVIEW and tell me your thoughts on the trauma from the separation.**

**Oh and I'm sorry that nothing with L happened in this chapter, but I promise something including him will happen next time.**

**Here's a question from this Chapter for the REVIEWERS:**

**Okay…. As the author of Adopting and Adapting, what do you think are some things that I could do to improve my story…and also improve my future chapters for this story and future stories? Please don't be **_**too**_** mean, that's all I ask. Thanks REVIEWERS! Love you all!**


	20. Let's Find That Awesome Kid

**This is Chapter 19! Holy Crap! I am freaking out on the inside! This is crazy! I can't believe I'm making a story with this many chapter! But the people who do read this seem to enjoy the originality of the plot. So…yeah. I write this for those people. **

**Don't you all feel ****loved****!**

**If you don't, you should. *Raito and Beyond hug you* …Feel the love yet?**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 19**

* * *

**Wammy's House – Winchester, England – Noon:**

A muscular man who looked like he could be a security guard for The Jerry Springer Show walked into Backup's holding cell. He carried a tray full of cakes and puddings. As soon as he walked in, Beyond could smell the pastries and creams. Disgusting.

His blindfold was pulled off his face, and Beyond looked up to the bald man. He wore a tan suit. This man was one of the teachers, he assumed. Beyond looked straight ahead of himself and saw a camera sitting on a tripod, and a little green light was slowly blinking on and off. That proved it; L was watching him here too.

The fourteen year old detective sat in the neighboring room, eating cake, drinking black tea, and watching and listening to Beyond's words and actions. He watched the monitor as B was spoon-fed the puddings and cakes that he chose for his Backup. He saw that his Backup made a slightly-disgusted face.

L pushed a button and spoke into a microphone, "What's wrong? Don't you like it?" He knew Backup knew he wasn't being sincere, just merely mocking him.

"I'm just used to my mother's cooking," Beyond spat. "It's much better than this crap."

The grey-eyed teen was irritated by the rude words. He considered jumping out of his seat, going to Backup's room, and punching him right in the face. However, L decided against this idea. It was rash, foolish, and showed emotion. He, instead, pushed the button again, this time not talking to Backup, "Mr. Miller, slap Backup 10 times across the face as hard as you can. Don't be afraid to use excessive force."

Mr. Miller set the tray on the concrete floor and stood up in front of Beyond.

_Slap!_

_Slap!_

_Slap!_

_Slap!_

_Slap!_

_Slap!_

_Slap!_

_Slap!_

_Slap!_

_Slap!_

First on one cheek, then on the other. Switching from pale cheek to pale cheek, Mr. Miller slapped Beyond's face 10 times as ordered, using excessive force. Each was more painful than the last.

L's voice echoed in the nearly empty room where Beyond and Mr. Miller were, "That was you first punishment since you've been adopted. 5 slaps for referring to Sachiko Yagami as your 'mother', and 5 additional slaps for being purposefully rude to me. I hope you make wiser decisions with your words in the future, Backup. Now eat your lunch."

Mr. Miller lifted the spoon full of banana pudding back to Beyond's mouth. Beyond hated banana pudding. He turned his head away to look right into the camera's lens. He didn't know what drove him to say it. It was like he was a different person than he was before he met the Yagami family, "This isn't lunch. _My Mother_, Sachiko Yagami, would always make my lunch for—"

"Sachiko Yagami is NOT you MOTHER!" L shouted into his microphone. "She and her husband ADOPTED you, Backup! Your _real_ mother and father are _DEAD_! You are an ORPHAN! Soichiro Yagami is NOT your Father, and Sachiko Yagami is NOT your MOTHER!" he repeated. "That woman did NOT give BIRTH to you! You don't share blood with the Yagami family!"

"Blood doesn't make a family," Beyond said quietly while L kept at it. "Love makes a family."

"The Yagami family doesn't love you! _Raito Yagami_ doesn't love you! You are NOT a member of that family or any other family! You are Nobody! You _have Nobody_!" L was furious! He couldn't believe that being with that family for a short amount of time made Backup believe that he belonged there. "There is _NOTHING_ for you, Backup! No hope! No future! _Nothing_!"

Beyond bowed his head and said loud enough for L to hear, "My family loves me. That fact is more than enough to give me hope that they will help me get out of here."

L stood up and walked out the door of the room he was in. He opened the heavy metal door of Beyond's cell, walked up to Backup, said, "I hate you, Backup…", then punched his look-alike in the mouth. His Backup started to bleed from the mouth, and he spit he spit out one of his baby teeth. L looked at it for a few moments, then looked up at Beyond again. "And to think," said L, "when you were five, I seriously considered making Watari adopt you just as he adopted me." L started walking out the door. "...So that way the three of us could be a family….. And that you could be my brother." He turned back to look at Backup before closing the metal door to continue lunch, "It was a foolish consideration; That I _wanted_ to give you a chance."

* * *

**Japanese NPA Offices – Day After Raito's Questioning:**

After Matsuda's questions, Raito was able to go home and get some well-needed sleep. She slept in her brother's bed. The brunette was lulled to sleep by the scent of him on the pillows. But now, she was back at the NPA offices, well-rested and ready to find her brother's kidnapper.

The previous night, before she went to bed, Raito was searching her brother's room. Not spying or snooping, just curiously searching for something that might have been a clue as to who might have wanted to take him away from her. She did, in fact, find something. In his nightstand drawer, she found a thick piece of paper. It turns out, after reading it, that it was Beyond's birth certificate. It had his name, then said:

'THE PERSON THAT THIS CERTIFICATE IS REFERRING TO IS PROPERTY OF L AND HIS ADMINISTATORS ~Beyond Birthday~ -SIGNED L'

She thinks of L calling people property. It's cruel and unfair, especially because they are children. Angry at L, she tore it to pieces then flushed those pieces down the toilet. People weren't property. Then she went to bed in her brother's bed again, praying for his safety.

…

"What was that license plate number again, Raito-chan?" Aizawa asked her. He was sitting at his desk, ready to type in the number, afro and all. His office computer was hooked up to a special searching machine. It had all the license plate numbers of every vehicle in Japan. Rentals, cars that haven't been purchased yet, cars from other countries coming here with their owners; every car that had ever been in Japan since 1987.

Raito repeated what she would never forget, "35E-722G." Her countenance was stern and serious.

The brunette, Mogi, Matsuda, Ide, Aizawa, and Ukita were all called in by their chief superintendent, Raito's fathers, Soichiro Yagami. They were all looking at the big screen in front of them, many images of license plates flashing like a slide show played too fast. It must have scanned hundreds before finally finding a match. Raito saw the actual code again.

35E-722G.

Those numbers and letters seemed to be laughing at her and mocking her. It wasn't funny. This wasn't a childish game. Her brother's life could be at stake.

Aizawa clicked on the match, then announced, "It turns out that the plate number is on a limousine like Raito-chan said. It's a rental."

"At what business?" Soichiro asked.

The cop at the computer scrolled down the page a little. "Let's see…it's called 'Rent-A-Limo'."

Ukita sighed, "Not too creative…" They all agreed silently on that.

'_Stupid if you ask me,'_ Aizawa thought, _'but if it's to find that awesome kid…'_

Soichiro got down to business, "Aizawa, can you find out if the limo has been returned or not?"

"Let me check," he typed some things onto the keyboard. "Yeah, it's actually been returned recently. Just yesterday."

"Can you get an address?"

"It's 609 Chitaso Road."

Soichiro looked very serious; he had his game-face on. "Mogi and Ukita, go down there and find out who the last three people who rented that particular limo are."

"Yes, sir," said Ukita. Mogi followed him to get his coat.

"Mogi, Ukita," Soichiro called.

"Yes, sir," Mogi asked.

"Would you take Raito with you too? I think the experience and fresh air would do her some good." He touched his daughter's back, letting her go. Mogi helped her with her coat, then all three were off.

* * *

**609 Chitaso Road:**

Ukita, Mogi, and Raito all went inside the small building. The sign flashed the stupid title above the doors. There was a guy there with glasses and a dorky haircut at the front desk, along with a big telephone and an ancient-looking computer. He welcomed them, "Hello! Welcome to Rent-A-Limo! How can I help you?"

Mogi and Ukita showed him their badges, and the guy glanced at them before giving the little girl beside them a weird look. Babysitters?

Ukita said, his cig still in his mouth, "We're the police. We're investigating a missing person's case. We think the kidnapper may have rented one of your limos recently."

"You know which one? Or do you need to see them?"

Mogi asked, "Would a license plate number work?"

"Yeah, sure." He clicked some things on his computer, then asked, "What's the number?"

Raito said for what felt like the umpteenth time, "35E hyphen 722G."

The guy with glasses typed it in, then something on the computer beeped, "Oh, wow. That's our most expensive model; our Ferrari Enzo Limousine. Usually that's just for expensive weddings or during prom season."

"Can you tell us the names of the last three people who rented that limo? Ukita asked. Mogi took out his little notebook and a pen. He also wrote down 'Ferrari Enzo Limousine' and 'most expensive'.

"The last three people were…Quillish Wammy, Saki Takamiru, and Hideki Yushi. Anything else I can help you with, officers?"

They turned to leave, "No, but thank you for the information," said Raito.

* * *

**Japanese NPA Offices:**

"Chief, we got those names." Ukita announced as soon as they walked in the door.

"Good," Soichiro nodded. "Let's put them on the other search engine and see who we're dealing with."

Mogi handed Aizawa the note, who was still sitting at the computer. Aizawa typed in the names, and it showed a loading bar. 31% loaded.

Raito reminded them, her face and attitude serious again, "Remember, one of these people is at least involved with kidnapping Beyond." The men all nodded. The loading bar suddenly shot up.

100%. Three pictures of very different-looking people showed up. An old man, Quillish Wammy, a young Japanese woman, Saki Takamiru, and a guy with scars on his face, Hideki Yushi. Soichiro gasped, "I know him…"

Raito's face lit up! A possible lead! "Which one? Hideki or Quillish?"

"Quillish Wammy!" He started to rage, pounding his fists on his desk. "Damn him!"

Matsuda kind of stepped in front of his Chief's daughter like a protective uncle. "Daddy, how do you know?" she demanded, stepping towards her father.

"Quillish Wammy is the founder and owner of the orphanage that we adopted Beyond from. I never told you this, even though your brother may have, but he was abused there for unknown reasons."

"I know," she admitted, the rest of the team could only watch, dazzled at the turn of events and realizations. "He did tell me. Now, I know that Wammy's House is an orphanage for gifted children, but where exactly in England is it?"

Soichiro sighed, everything was coming out. "Remember, before Beyond was in our family, your mother and I went to England for our second honeymoon?"

The girl nodded, "Yeah, I remember. I had to stay at Gramma's house."

"Right." He started, "Well, at the time, Matsuda was in England too, just doing random checks of hospitals, nursing homes, and orphanages across the globe. Well, in England, he screwed up." Raito looked back at Matsuda, her eyes saying _'Way to go, big shot.'_ Her father continued, "So I had to replace Matsuda in the middle of out honeymoon. I had to investigate Wammy's House, and what I found wasn't a good thing, Raito."

"What happened?"

"I'm not getting into specifics since you're so young, but Beyond wasn't being treated like you always were by your mother and me."

"I know. L made people hurt him. But was there ever a fair trial against the people responsible?"

"No, someone paid the judge a large amount of money to keep it all a secret and to not trial anyone."

"Bribes…" said Raito.

"Right." Soichiro looked from his daughter up to his coworkers. "Everyone," he said, "we're going to Winchester….." He said in a husky voice, pure determination practically dripping from him like sweat, "We're going to get my son back."

Raito smiled, proud of the team's efforts to help her brother, and proud of her father's determination.

* * *

**OMG! Isn't it EPIC? I love the dad's determination!**

**Please REVIEW and tell me your opinion on how good a dad Soichiro is towards his children.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading! :D**


	21. The Invasion

**As I'm typing this I'm eating Oreo cookies! :D**

**I hope you like this chapter enough to REVIEW about it! That would make me smile! **

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 20 **

* * *

**Helicopter No 1 – Somewhere Over Western Asia:**

After getting a search warrant for Wammy's House signed by Judge Echizen **(1)**, the Task Force immediately took off on numerous helicopters to Winchester. Soichiro, Raito, Matsuda, Mogi, Aizawa, and Ukita were seated in Helicopter No. 1, and they were all wearing headphones to protect their ears. Soichiro knew just how massive the orphanage was, and they wanted to be thorough, so there were 49 other helicopters following the first one with five cops and their pilots in each copter. 250 dedicated police officers ready to get back as many innocent children as they possibly could. Their pilot, Yoshi-san, was a chief of another police building in Japan, and was good friends with the Task Force.

Yoshi-san was a heavier and older man who wore glasses and had a smoking problem. His voice was damaged because of it, but he was still a nice guy. Yoshi-san was wearing sweats, as were the rest of the people in the helicopter. He volunteered to fly the Task Force on the 16 hour flight, along with his co-pilot, Shiatsu-san.

Shiatsu-san was Yoshi-san's sister-in-law, and the two of them went to piloting school together. She was a Japanese woman in her mid-thirties, but she looked a little older than that. She wasn't very tolerant of silly children, but she respected Raito for being mature for her age.

The three goals of the trip were simple: Find Beyond Birthday, get any other children out of the facility, and arrest anyone employed there and bring them all in for questioning.

"Mogi-san?" Raito asked, tired. "Can I borrow your laptop for a minute?" Mogi nodded, then handed her the laptop silently.

The young genius went on the Internet and researched further into Japanese birth certificates, and also on how to get one for an adopted child. It turns out that all you have to do is take the adopted child and their new parents to court, and they'll do a quick check on the child and the household where the child is being raised. If the courts decided that the child is in good hands, they'll make the child a new certificate for the country where he/she will live. Only then would the adoption would be official and the child would be a legal citizen.

Raito turned to her father, who seemed deep in thought. "Daddy," she spoke into the headphone's speaker system to get her father's attention, "take a look at this article on birth certificates for adopted children. This is how we can get one for Beyond," she handed him the laptop.

Soichiro read the article, and it was from a good source, The Japanese Court of Law. He couldn't believe he and his wife didn't think to do that. They just assumed that everything would run through on its own because he was a police officer and involved with the law. They should've been more careful! But since it could be done that easy, he made a mental note to do that once they got back home with his son.

At that moment, as her father was in deep thought again and after she gave Mogi his laptop back, Raito swore to herself that she _would_ get her brother back. That's just how it was going to be. L swore could screw off.

* * *

**England, Europe – 1 mile from Targeted Location:**

After a lot of sleeping so they would be well-rested for the mission, the cops in all the helicopters were ordered to put on all their gear since they would be arriving on the landing dock in 30 minutes. They landed on a vast helicopter landing site a mile from Wammy's, not wanting to let anyone know they were coming.

The young girl was the first one to hop out of the helicopter, dressed in grey sweats. Then the other helicopters all carefully landed after a couple of minutes. She could see a couple clouds in the sky, and there was tall grass growing far in the distance of all directions. There was a fence to her right, and countless H's painted yellow on the asphalt ground.

Soon, the 250 officers were all out of the helicopters and were being armed with their weapons; two Desert Eagles for each officer. Watching the whole thing, and seeing in person just how many men and women cared enough to help her brother and the other orphans, Raito started to tear up.

Her father talking into a megaphone stopped her though as she paid attention, "Listen up!" he called loudly to the officers. They all gathered around Chief Yagami, carrying their guns in their hands or in their holsters. "This is a very serious mission; I hope you all understand that. What we may witness in the next few hours would change our lives; children being beaten….children being starved or isolated. But it is our duty, and police officers, to help those innocent children and to arrest whoever is responsible for doing such things." All the officers listened very carefully.

"Listen to what I'm about to tell you…" said Soichiro. "Treat this mission like a government issuing. Be very stern and serious. Not only for the children we need to help, but also for yourselves and your own safety. We don't think anyone at Wammy's House had any weapons or dangerous means of protecting themselves, but we don't know for sure." Some officers nodded, others were like stone, motionless. "Are you all ready and armed? Good, let's roll."

* * *

**Wammy's House:**

Raito looked at the immense building that was Wammy's House, the torturous hellhole that was well-disguised as an ordinary orphanage for gifted children. The brunette could sense that her brother was around; she could just feel it in her heart that he was here. The remembered how, on the way to Wammy's House, the English police joined with the small army of Japanese officers. L, whoever he was, didn't stand a chance. Not only did the two culturally-different police armies join forces, but they also both had their master snipers hiding around the perimeter in case anyone tried to escape. There were also countless ambulances for the injured children that would be rescued.

They finally invaded the place, Raito being safely escorted behind the human shield of Matsuda and her own father. Normally Chief Yagami would _never_ put his children in the line of danger, but this was for his son, and he knew just how broken his daughter was without her sibling.

They raced through the long hallways, Raito trotting close behind. They were seen by a balding man, Roger Ruvie. They showed him the Japanese search warrant, then another English officer handcuffed him while the stream of cops kept steadily invading Wammy House territory. Those were the orders given by their Chief Superintendent Soichiro Yagami; arrest now, ask the questions later.

Raito yelled to her dad as they all kept trotting, "Dad, Beyond said this place is mostly made of classrooms. Ask a teacher where the successors are being kept. That's where Beyond should be!"

Just as he nodded to his daughter, Soichiro came to a door. Mogi kicked it down. There were some screams of small children from the inside, and some ducked under their desks in fear. _'They must think we're terrorists,'_ Raito thought. A cop immediately went inside and arrested the overweight teacher. She was mad as she was brought out in handcuffs. "Where are the successors!" the English officer yelled.

The sound of more doors getting kicked down and more childrens' screams could be heard in the background as more teachers were arrested and more children were escorted out of the building and to emergency help outside. In the background, more English officers could be heard yelling in the teachers' faces, "Where are the successors being held?" None of the teachers had a clue as more units went down the halls to find more classrooms, dorms, and offices.

After a while, Raito heard Aizawa behind her, saying, "Chief! This guy knows where the successors are!" Soichiro ran over to him. Raito was frozen in her mixed emotions and feelings, and she was shaking a little bit. Too much unnecessary excitement had occurred in her life in a short amount of time. She felt someone grab her right hand. Raito looked up and saw that it was Matsuda, "Come on, Raito-chan, we're going to find Beyond," he smiled and walked her to where the teacher was. The young and skillful cop had his Desert Eagle in his right hand.

"What's your name?" Soichiro asked.

"My name is Thomas Miller. I know where all the successors are," said the bald, muscular, and suited man.

"Where are they! And how many are there!" Soichiro yelled in his face.

Mr. Miller's eyes got bigger, "They're in the basement, there's only four, I'll show you…" he turned and walked with his metal handcuffs chaining his hands behind his back, Aizawa pointing a gun in his back. They went down different directions through the hallways, leaving the sound of doors being kicked down by Mogi and childrens' feet running outside to their new freedom.

Mr. Miller led them to an elevator. "All four of the successors are in the basement. They're being held in separate cells."

"Like a prison…" Aizawa spat in his tough voice, the one that once made his own daughter cry when he was scolding her.

"Yes, look can I go now?" Mr. Miller looked uncomfortable.

Aizawa was rough with him as he dug the Desert Eagle deeper into his back and drug him into the elevator with five English officers, Matsuda, Soichiro, and Raito. Matsuda still held onto his chief's daughter and Aizawa said to Mr. Miller, "Aww, why not come along for the ride? I'm sure you're used to this, scumbag." The elevator doors closed and the elevator descended to the basement.

The doors opened and their was a long black hallway with black cemented walls. There were two doors in each side. Aizawa kicked down the first three, each revealing a little boy about Raito's age inside. The redhead boy, the blonde boy, and the albino boy were all handcuffed and strapped to chairs with blindfolds on. They were all dirty too, and as soon as they were released from the chairs, all of them hugged the English officer that saved them. The three English police officers carried the three children to the elevator and the doors closed.

That only left one more door. That only left Beyond to be found. Soichiro did the honors of kicking the heavy door down, Matsuda, Raito, Aizawa, and the two other English officers were behind him. Behind the door revealed Beyond tied to a chair and his hands tied behind his back. He was not blindfolded. Raito saw that there was not only Beyond's familiar face in the room, but another familiar face. That guy from the night they ran away. The guy with the gun. That guy who saved them! That the _hell_ was he doing here!

* * *

**I actually went on Google to find famous Japanese Judges, and Echizen-san was the first one I found. That's just fancy-talk for "Echizen-san is a real person!"**

**It turns out that I didn't actually research on how to get a Japanese birth certificate for an adopted child, so I just assumed that that's what you'd have to do. I don't know…sorry.**

**REVIEW, I mean it! :B**


	22. Too Much is Said

**Wow! I'm so happy because I got so much good feedback about last chapter! I hope you all love this one! Writing part of this at my grandma's house.**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 21**

"Raito!" Soichiro yelled as his daughter slipped from Matsuda's grasp and ran into Beyond's cell, a possible line of danger. She quickly untied her brother, and there were now shiny tears running down her face.

She cried and whimpered as she hurried to untie him from the chair. Her brother started to cry too just from seeing her again. He wasn't sure if it was real, or just a wonderful dream. He'd always of freedom. As soon as his arms were free, he embraced his little sister tightly and cried, "Raito-kun! I missed you so much!"

She sniffed and said, "I missed you too, Beyond. I'm sorry I couldn't find you before…you were...kidnapped."

Another voice, slightly familiar, interrupted, "I hate to butt into this beautiful scene before me, but I'm afraid I must." Both children and all of the cops stopped and looked to who was speaking. The young man emerged from the shadows, holding his Black Viper pistol in his hand.

That face.

It was so similar to Beyond's.

It was familiar.

He was the young man who saved her from being stabbed to death.

"Y-You… You're…" Raito stuttered. She couldn't speak as her big brother still held her in his arms protectively. "You're that guy…. You saved my life…our lives…"

"No," Beyond said. "He's the person who kidnapped me and brought me here. This is L."

And as soon as he said that, Raito stood up and freed herself from her brother's arms and shouted angrily at L, "You're L! First off, _you_ are a _sick_ and _disgusting_ person for what you did to my brother and what you put him through. Second, don't you _DARE_ point that gun at me, do you understand! Put it _down_, _NOW_!"

L smiled and held the gun in one hand, his other hand in the air, showing his feisty little cupcake that he didn't have anything. He set the gun down slowly, then kicked it in Matsuda's direction, then put both hands in the air. His smile never left him.

Raito continued, "Why did you save my life? I don't know you and you don't know me! And, frankly, I don't care to know who you are, because I've heard enough while listening to my brother cry about his abuse!" when she said this, she started to cry. She covered her face with her hands, muffled sobs could be heard. All of the officers, who now pointed their guns at L's legs in case he ran, even the English officers who didn't understand, they all ached in their hearts at seeing this poor little girl in front of them cry. She screamed at the top of her lungs suddenly, "_**WHY DO YOU CARE!**_" Everyone jumped out of their skin for a moment. Then she cried again, "You obviously don't care about Beyond… You don't care about him at all! Why am _I_ so important? Why, in the ambulance did you call me your angel and then _kiss_ me! You're a sick pedophile, L, you know that? You're a pedophile!"

L waited for her to be done before speaking in a much calmer voice to his sweet little muffin, "Raito-kun, I am not a pedophile… I'm not legally an adult, so my attraction to you is completely legal." L smiled at his Raito again. "Besides," he chuckled for a moment, "I had to do whatever it took to get my Backup back. I know how determined you can be when faced with a challenge. And, honestly, Raito-kun, I wanted to see you again."

There as more fury and rage in her voice than there was sadness and grief, "Don't make this about me! This isn't about me! It's about MY BROTHER! And don't you dare think you can call him _**YOUR BACKUP**_! He's not a _possession_! He doesn't _belong_ to you! He doesn't belong to _anybody_! And Backup isn't his name! It's Beyond! Beyond Birthday! Beyond's not some trophy child of yours! He's not some lab rat for you experiments while you look at him from behind a camera lens!" she then motioned towards the camera. "He's somebody… Why don't you get that? 'L' is supposed to be the face of justice, and you're such a _hypocrite_ for thinking that doing this is acceptable!" Raito only shook her head for a moment, "How in the world did he end up here in the first place…._huh_?" she asked.

L said to his little sweetheart, "First, before I explain that to you, I would like to inform you that you can be a little more respectful towards me and a little less loud in your tone of voice." He didn't speak any differently to his little sugary gumdrop, he spoke calmly to her.

Raito only looked at him like he had lobsters coming out of his ears before stepping closer to the tall teen. "Come here," she motioned with her finger for him to lean down at her level. Once he did, keeping his hands where they could all see them, she spit right in his face. "How's that for being respectful!" Then she stepped back to her brother, who was now standing up, and hugged him again. "L!" she called to the guilty teen. "You have to understand that I hold a lot of anger against you, get that through your head already!"

"Why are you so mad?" L was sad. Why didn't his little honey-bunch love him back? Wasn't that what all girls loved? Love? Plus, it was fate that they should be together! Their IQ's were the same! 159! Didn't that count for something? Anything!

"I'm _furious_ because you did horrible things to my brother! I love Beyond with all my heart! He's the best older brother I could have asked for." She only hugged her brother and closed her eyes for a second. And for a moment, it seemed like no one was there but them. When she opened her eyes, she spoke to L again, "Now don't change the subject, L. How did Beyond end up in Wammy's House? Did you kidnap him back then, too?"

L chuckled," You're a humorous one, Yagami-chan." Then he finally explained to her, smiling slightly the whole time because he finally could see her face again, "You see, from the moment I first saw Backup or, as you call him, Beyond, I knew that he would grow up to be a criminal."

"And how exactly did you know that!" she spat.

"His eyes," L looked to Beyond for a moment before looking back at his little sugarplum again. "Never in my life have I seen eyes like that; blood red, full of evil and hatred. Someone with those eyes can only grow to be a monster….. And, to be perfectly honest, I was a bit afraid of Beyond when I first saw him. Even though he was only three at the time, I was still frightened." L then looked up to the cops and spoke to them, "And I'm certain you were all afraid too. I'm sure you all thought that this child was possessed by a demon….something straight from Hell." Then he ordered Beyond, "Backup, turn and show them your eyes."

"No," Beyond said.

"Don't say 'no' to me, Backup! Remember that I still own you. The birth certificate says so. You're legally my property."

Raito interrupted, "Birth certificate? L, I found Beyond's birth certificate…..and then I destroyed it." L nearly screamed at her right there. "People aren't property, L. All humans have the natural right to be free. What they do with that freedom is their own choice, good or bad, and they are responsible for their own actions. Now tell me, L…..why did you keep Beyond away from people?" Then she remembered what her brother told her in his fit of crying, "And why was he put in a _straight jacket_?"

L spoke again to Raito, his fascination and obsession, "You see, my darling, that was because of my fear of him growing up to be someone unfit for society. Therefore, he lived in a cell for seven years to protect the other children who live here. I was doing the world a favor by keeping an eye on him at all times."

Soichiro said, from behind his gun, in his son's defense, "And you don't think that keeping him from the world would break him? ….Shatter him!"

L ignores the father and asks the man's daughter, "Were you afraid of your brother at any time, Raito-chan?"

Raito hesitates, "Not afraid of Beyond as a person, just his eyes when I first saw a picture of him." Beyond was a little sad before she continued, "But only for a little bit, and when I saw him in person I wasn't affected at all by them. And I also never thought that just because of eye color that he would grow up to be someone unfit for society!" She hugged Beyond, "I love his eyes! And I love _Beyond_ just for who he is! He's my _brother_….. _My_ brother…" she defended herself.

L shook his head, "You two are not of blood-relations."

"Just because he's not my blood-brother doesn't mean I can't and won't consider him to be my blood-brother!" She uses an example, "I even think of Matsuda as my family! He may not be my uncle, but he's loving and protective like one so he just _is_ my uncle. He's Uncle Matsu…"

"Are you saying that people can simply _choose_ who their family is?" L asks, not believing what he was hearing.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," said Raito.

L looked up from his little muffin to the police officers with their guns pointed at him. "Fine," he finally agreed, "I'll allow you to take Backup, or _Beyond_, back to Japan and raise him as you see fit."

"Don't worry," said Soichiro, "we were already planning on that."

L says to the father, "Just don't think that this is the last of me that you'll. I'll see you in court in four years. Once I turn eighteen, and Raito and Beyond turn fourteen, I'll fight for shared custody of both of your children."

"And how do you see yourself convincing a jury to let you have either of my children?" The kids stepped closer to their father.

"I'll use the fact that Raito will never trust me to have her "brother" alone, and the fact that she'll want to know where her brother is." L smiled cunningly.

"C'mon, Raito," said Soichiro, lovingly, then picked up his son, "let's take him home where he belongs." They walked out of the room, Matsuda following. The two English officers stayed to put L in handcuffs.

L was finally exposed as the monster he will always be.

* * *

**Hurray! Congratulations, Yagami family! You got your red-eyed boy again! *sets off fireworks and confetti* LOL**

**I hope you all really enjoyed their chapter, and I'm thinking that I won't make a thousand more chapters for this to explain the ending (yes, I figured it out), I'm probably just going to make it a drabble with little dialogue. IDK, that's probably how it's going to be.**

**I love all of you, so **_**please**_** be a doll and send me a REVIEW! (have a heart, because I have a good ending in store for all of you!)**


	23. Curtain

**I have a feeling that this is it; I won't be making an epilogue for this story. I feel like everyone's done that. It's not very creative in my eyes.**

**L's real name is stated many times in this chapter.**

**So this is it, this is the last of Adopting and Adapting. If you want a sappy and sad speech written by me, it's after the story… Thanks for all the kind and constructive thoughts you shared in you reviews… I love all of you…**

* * *

**Adopting and Adapting**

**Chapter 22**

After the invasion of Wammy's House, the Yagami son, daughter, and father all went back to Japan to see the mother again. Once they arrived, Sachiko wrapped her loving arms around her son and spun him around, kissed his cheek, then carried him inside as if he were incapable of walking. That night, there was no question about it; Raito was sleeping in her brother's bed with him. That, she felt, was the only way to make sure that they wouldn't be separated again. They slept peacefully.

…

In Winchester, over a period of several weeks, the English police talked to every teacher, administrator, and student of Wammy's House to sort out the guilty adults and the child victims. There were 386 children. 4 were abuse victims. 3 were not adopted yet and still in Winchester, and those 3 were taken to therapy sessions that were paid for by the government. The rest of the 382 children were not victims of any sort of abuse, just neglect. They were all taken to several other orphanages in the country.

There were 2 administrators in Wammy's House, Quillish Wammy and Roger Ruvie. They admitted to abusing the 4 children and were both arrested and put in jail without any chances of parole. They are to live out the rest of their lives in prison. There were 30 teachers at Wammy's House, and 8 were found guilty by a jury. Abby Smith, George Williams, Hunter Green, Thomas Miller, Caroline Jeffries, Gregory Evans, Edwards Phillips, and Sara Newman were all found guilty in the English court. All were put in jail without any chances of parole. The 22 other teachers were released and no bad marks were to be put on their teaching resumes.

…

Back in Japan, a week after the successful invasion, L arrived in an orange jumpsuit; his hands handcuffed in front, two Japanese officers escorted him into the courthouse. By now the story captivated the world, and there were local and national anchormen and women trying to get a statement from the teen. And by now, his real name was a household name and the fact that he was 'L' was no secret to the general public. There was a survey of 10,000 people from Japan, and it turned out that L Lawliet is the most hated person in the eastern-most country. The Land of The Rising Sun hated L Lawliet. The whole world was watching live as the news cameras were rolling.

L Lawliet stepped into the courtroom where all four members of the Yagami family were. Raito and Beyond were dressed in their school uniforms since they were picked up by their parents right after school and didn't have time to change. There was a man beside the family, Haru Manamiko, their lawyer. On the other side of the room, L saw his defense lawyer, Saki Oe.

L stayed standing up as the judge asked him, "How does the Defendant plea?"

L Lawliet spoke into the microphone, "Not guilty, Your Honor."

Beyond Yagami, as his new Japanese birth certificate called him, was called to testify against L. The wonderful lawyer also had a stand with pictures on it, a blank piece of paper covering them from the eyes of the jury. Beyond started answering the questions that his family's lawyer asked him, "Beyond, what kinds of things did Mr. Lawliet have people do to you?" Beyond was nervous as the jury's eyes were all on him.

Beyond spoke into the microphone, seeing all the cameras from the news stations pointed at him. "He had me locked in a room for seven years. I was only allowed to go outside for an hour once a week." Some people looked at the sick bastard in orange. "And he would only feed me old, dried-out cakes."

"What about the abuse? What did he have people do to you?" The kind eyes of Manamiko-san looked at Beyond in a caring and friendly way.

Beyond looked sad as he told everyone what happened, "It happened when I had to take tests. If I got an answer wrong, I was told to get on my hands and knees. The teacher would take a yardstick and hit me with it. It got worse when L told them to put uncooked rise on the floor, because some of the rice is not in my kneecaps."

Manamiko-san pulled back the blank piece of paper to reveal an enlarged photo of Beyond's bare kneecaps. Some people gasped at what they saw. The photo was labeled 'Exhibit A' and clearly showed where the grains of rice that had dug into Beyond's skin. The skin healed over top the grains, so the boy would have rice in his knees for the rest of his life. "These are your knees?" Manamiko-san asked.

"Yes," said Beyond.

"Objection!" Oe-san, Mr. Lawliet's defense lawyer stood up, "How do we know that picture wasn't photo-shopped or if it's someone else's knees?"

Manamiko-san smiled smugly at his opponent, "Beyond-kun, if you don't mind, could you step out of the testification ward and show Oe-san your knees?" Beyond did as he was told, rolling up the black trousers of his uniform and revealed his knees to the world. Some people gasping could be heard as the camera flashes brightened the room for small instants. The female judge pounded on the gavel, and the flashes all stopped. "Okay, Yagami-kun, please go back to the testification ward. We're not done with the questions." Beyond, again, did as he was told after rolling his pant legs down. "Now, can you explain anything else?"

"Yes," Beyond said. "After I was adopted by the Yagami family, L kidnapped me and brought me back to Wammy's House, the orphanage where I was kept a prisoner for years."

"Where is Wammy's House?"

"Winchester, England." More hushed whispers from the news people, then another loud crack from the judge's gavel.

After the rest of Beyond's explanations, which L acted indifferent towards, it was Raito's turn to testify since she was a witness to the kidnapping and also to the fact that L had an illegal gun when he was under international age to own one as well. When Raito was talking, L was just staring at her with obsessive love and attraction.

After she was done explaining what happened and what she saw, Raito was allowed to go back to her seat. Then L's defense lawyer spoke to the jury for a small amount of time on why her client wasn't guilty, saying that L Lawliet never once laid his own hands on anybody and that it was all a huge misunderstanding.

The jury went into another room for deliberation.

…

They came back less than five minutes later. "Has the jury reached a verdict?" asked the judge.

One short Japanese woman stood up, "We have, Your Honor." She held a piece of paper in her hands. Everyone stood up, the Defendant, the Plaintiff, the newscasters, the cameramen; everybody. Raito held her brother's hand tightly in her own, and covered her mouth with her other hand. She felt ready to cry at whatever the verdict ended up being.

"I'll read the charges, and you will give the verdict," said the judge. "Abuse of a minor?"

"Guilty in the second degree."

"Isolation of a minor?"

"Guilty."

"Kidnapping of a minor?"

"Guilty."

"Repetitive torture of a minor?"

"Guilty in the second degree."

"The Civil Rights charge on the invasion of privacy?"

"Guilty in the first degree."

"Bribery in the English Court System?"

"Guilty in the first degree."

"And finally, illegal and underage possession of a gun in Japan?"

"Guilty, Your Honor," she announced.

Raito attached herself to her brother, crying her eyes out. Sachiko hugged her husband, a big smile on her face.

…

It was over.

…

L Lawliet was sentenced to 85 years in prison without parole. It would have been life in prison if he was charged as an adult. Outside the courtroom, L saw the Yagami family. He had the officers stop and spoke to the Yagami girl, who was holding her brother's hand. Beyond smiles as he looks at L, who says, "Please convince your parents to drop the charges, Raito-chan! I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you! You said before that all humans have the natural right to be free."

She replied, "Yes, I did say that. However, I also said what we do with that freedom is out own choice, good or bad, and that we are responsible for our own actions…"

L was now starting to cry. He reached his handcuffed hands to his love's head, the chain making clanging sounds. He strokes her hair slowly and softly. L makes a sad face. He has a sharp intake of breath through his sobs, "You're so beautiful…" he whispers. L is forcibly pulled along by the officers.

Outside the courthouse, as their parents are busy with talking to the news reporters, Beyond tells Raito, "We don't have to worry, he going to die in jail."

She asked him, "How do you know?" He'll be 99 when his jail time ends. How do you know he won't still be alive?"

Beyond just smiles and says, "I'll tell you later." And Beyond smiled because he saw that L will die when he is 87 years old. Only 12 years before his jail time will be over.

…

Back in Winchester, Wammy's House was ordered to be torn down by the Queen of England. A beautiful park was built in its place, with a long walkway and benches and a playground for children. It is named Yagami Park in honor of the Japanese family.

A plaque with the date of the invasion was placed on a concrete stand. The plaque also had an engraving of Beyond's and Raito's smiling faces. There was also another larger plaque on the other side of the concrete stand with all the names of the officers who served to help make the invasion possible.

Soon, Wammy's House was nothing more than a distant memory.

…

**The Yagami Residence – Monday Morning:**

"Raito, Beyond, it's time to wake up. Get dressed and ready for school," said Sachiko before she snapped a photo of her young children sharing Beyond's bed.

…

Things were slowly becoming normal again.

…

They groggily got up, and Raito went to her room to get dressed. Soon, both children went downstairs in their uniforms for breakfast. They had to eat quickly before rushing out the front door for school.

As always, Raito and Beyond walked down the sidewalk on their way to Bandmaster Academy. In the middle of their quiet walk to school, Raito suddenly grabbed her brother and hugged him tightly. Beyond was surprised at first, but then hugged back. He heard his sweet sister say, "I love you so much." She said it with a smile.

He held her tighter before kissing her cheek. "I love you too."

That hug made all if his pain and suffering worth it. Because Beyond Yagami knew that if he didn't live through the abuse, he never would have met the person he's come to love the most; Raito Yagami, his little sister. Never again would he remember the orphanage and be filled with feelings of grief or hatred. Instead, he would be happy and thankful to himself for toughing it out and, above all else, surviving.

…

His scars and tears were now good things.

…

His sister was his best friend and companion for life.

It was just Beyond and Raito.

"I love you so much… I'll never stop loving you…"

Owari

* * *

**Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Even though there are streams of tears running down my face as I sadly close the curtain on this story, I sincerely hope that Adopting and Adapting has found a special place in all your hearts, and I hope it has become on FanFiction that you will always remember. I hope that the ending wasn't a disappointment at all, and I sincerely hope this story moved you and I genuinely hope the end of every chapter made you want to read the next one. Unfortunately, though, there will not be a next chapter.**

**I feel that I'm connected to all of you strangers in some way, that we are all connected as a whole in this big world. All of us on FanFiction are connected, and we share out thoughts and ideas with other strangers who have curious and welcoming eyes to our ideas.**

**That just shows that we are never alone, that there is always someone there for us and that someone will always be there for us in our times of need, just as Raito was there for Beyond and vice-versa. That is the moral of this story: Know that you are never alone.**

**Throughout the rest of my life, I promise to myself to never forget that moral. We are never alone. During the time that I was writing this story, some very dramatic things have significantly changed my life. My father cheated on my mother, and my mother kicked him out. And since she is currently the only one financially supporting me as her 14-year-old daughter, we don't have enough money to keep our house. We are currently looking to find a new place for rent. (August of 2011)**

**My father showed me how horrible people could be to each other, that we could like to and deceive the people that we are supposed to love the most. But now my eyes have been opened to how wonderful and supportive people can be to each other. And that is all thanks to you, as a reader of Adopting and Adapting.**

**And now, and I take my final bow for Adopting and Adapting, my last message to you all is, "I feel so honored that you've taken the time to look at something that I created. Thank you for showing me the better half of human nature. Please be good to one another. Never purposefully do anything that could cause pain to others, even if you don't love them. Since we are all connected, chances are someone we know does love that person. **

**I hope you enjoyed my work. Thank you for reading. Thank you for the love.**

**Sincerely,**

**Charlotte Ann Johnson**

**PS – I want to thank JiffyPeanutButterGirl for looking up "What's a judges hammer called?" on Google for this story. Here's a virtual hug for you! Love you, sis! *hug***


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